


Not-A-Werewolf-AU

by BabyBard93



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, bit of angst, but mostly just Ava being even more of a literal puppy than usual, dollop of smut, this is pure fluff guys, touch of action
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-10-26 16:26:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17749370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyBard93/pseuds/BabyBard93
Summary: Ava gets attacked on a mission and ends up as even more of a puppy than usual. Neither Sara or the rest of the team are quite as freaked out about this as she is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This will probably end up having around five or so chapters. Huge, huge thanks to EchoGalen for being an awesome beta and also for convincing me to actually write and post this story. Rating is for future chapters.

Sara Lance was many things.

 

Stressed? Often.

 

Dangerous? Undoubtedly.

 

Caring? Sometimes almost too much.

 

But one thing that often went unconsidered was that Sara Lance was observant.

 

After all, an assassin didn’t survive long if they weren’t. Her extensive training had taught her a lot in that regard, how to read a room, to read a target. To spot exits and choke points and concealed weapons. To taste and smell for abnormalities in air, in water, in food. And to listen. To always listen.

 

Which is why Ava had yet to portal into a room containing Sara and not find her already looking at her, eyes twinkling and face lighting up whenever she saw Ava stepping through.

 

Apparently there was a first time for everything.

 

Today when Ava stepped through the time portal into the warmly lit interior of the Waveriders parlor after a long day of even longer paperwork her girlfriends back was to her, sleeveless black tank showcasing the defined lines of her upper body while she stood firm with her hands on her hips in what Ava could easily recognize even from behind as her ‘tough mom’ stance.

 

This time it was Zari, the apparent subject of Sara’s frustration, that noticed her first. The hacker’s eyes widened as Ava appeared in the room, instantly latching onto an opportunity. “Hey, Ava! Don’t you think that love and companionship are both awesome and totally necessary for everybody, and also that Sara needs to stop hating fun?”

 

Already in the middle of a turn from when she registered Zari focus on something behind her, Sara felt an unreasonable amount tension melt from her shoulders at just the sight of Ava. She was clearly coming straight out of work, navy Bureau suit unwrinkled and hair contained in it’s customary tight bun, but smiling softly at her with that heart stopping expression reserved only for Sara that just made her feel like she was floating somewhere in a tropical ocean – all warm and light and peaceful inside. At least right up until Zari butted in, reminding her that she was supposed to be laying down the law, least one of her Legend’s decide to ignore a frankly very reasonable order. Again. “No. No matter how much you try and turn this around on me the answer is still no. Nada. Absolutely not. Ava! Back me up here! Pretty sure there has gotta be a bunch of rules about what is and isn’t allowed on a time-ship, right?”

 

Zari pouted, her own hands going to her hips in a mirror of her Captain. “Hey, using the Director in arguments is cheating!”

 

A pale brow twitched up towards Sara’s hairline. “You brought her into it!”

 

“ Because you’re being mean, and Ava’s the only one who can make you see sense.” Ava blinked, still attempting to digest that as Zari spun in her heeled boots and rounded on her, gesturing wildly. “Sara won’t let us get a puppy!”

 

Another blink, Ava gaping at her for a moment, still trying to find her footing in this conversation and coming up empty. “I...you...what?”

 

Turquoise eyes rolled and for a split second Ava thought Sara might actually stomp her foot. “No dogs on the Waverider! Right Aves?”

 

A dog? They were arguing about a DOG? “What? Uh, that probably wouldn’t be good...” Images of time pirates and system overloads and fur in air vents flashed through her mind and her palms began to sweat.

 

“ HA. Exactly!” Sara threw her hands in the air, vindicated.

 

“ That doesn’t count!” Zari jabbed a finger accusingly in Ava’s direction. “She’s a cat person!”

 

“ Well I don’t – I mean I don’t  _ dislike  _ dogs it’s just...um, is this a bad time? I feel like I should come back later.” Ava wiped her palms discreetly on her trousers, pulling a face when she left a crease.

 

“ No!” Sara bounced towards her, catching long fingers that were busy worrying the fabric over her thigh and squeezing them with her own. “No, no. Me and Zari were just having a conversation. But it’s done now. Yep, done and over.” Ava looked up from her scratching to meet her eyes, nose scrunching as her face did that thing again – that big, thousand watt smile reserved only for Sara. “Besides, we were going to do dinner right?”

 

Ava hummed, turning her hand still clasped in Sara’s until their palms were touching. Entangling their fingers and returning the gentle squeeze she got for the action. “Of course. As long as you promise to leave the cooking to Gideon.”

 

“ Okay, rude, I’m not that bad.” Whipping her head behind her to shoot daggers in the direction of the responding snort. “Shut it Zari. Don’t make me order Gideon to cut off your doughnut supply.”

 

“ You wouldn’t dare. Actually maybe you would, puppy hating grumpy grinch.”

 

Sara sighed, glanced up at the ceiling and mentally counted to five before shaking her head. “Look, I love dogs too Zari, I really do. I just don’t think it’s safe or smart to have one on a time ship!”

 

Thankfully, her tone finally seemed to get across the fact that this was a point she would not be budging on and Zari conceded with a dramatic groan. “Ugh fine. I know.” Shifting on the spot before mumbling, “And I don’t think you’re a grumpy grinch. Most of the time.” Nodding briefly at Ava as she skulked past into the hallway, no doubt off in search of doughnuts now that Sara had mentioned them.

 

Sara watched her retreat with a shake of her head. “Finally. I swear, I love these idiots, but sometimes...” Refocusing on Ava she felt the tension of her day beginning to dissolve into nothingness. “But enough of that. Hi! You’re here!” She snaked her arms around Ava’s waist, linking them together behind her back. “How was your day, less annoying than mine, I hope?”

 

Ava allowed herself to be pulled closer into strong arms, resting her head on Sara’s shoulder, and smiled impossibly harder. Pressing a soft kiss to a patch of sweet skin on display next to her chin, and feeling Sara’s chest sink in a little as she sighed out a heavy breath. Warm air danced across Ava’s neck, and she smiled while she said, “Oh you know. Lots of paperwork. A boring meeting or two. Settled a few arguments between children.”

 

“Hey! I had that well under control before you got here!” Blunt teeth nipped at Ava’s collar. “And I didn’t hear you calling us children when we saved the world.”

 

“I was talking about my Bureau agents, babe.”

 

A beat, then Sara groaned. “Oh. Well. I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

 

Ava grinned, pulling back so Sara can see her holding up her thumb and index fingers about a quarter inch apart. “Maybe just a little.”

 

Soft lips pressed hard against Ava’s smirk, kissing it away. “You are such a smart ass. Come here.” Forgoing the nearby couch and instead plopping down into the plush armchair behind her, Sara dragged Ava down into her lap. Kissing her again and using the distraction to weave her finger into her hair, nimbly removing pins and ties until it tumbled free around Ava’s shoulders in a fragrant golden waterfall. Murmuring her approval against her lips. “There. Much better.”

 

Ava chuckled, a soft tongue flicking briefly against Sara’s lower lip as she pulled away slightly. Readjusting, tucking in long limbs and scooting a little closer to her girlfriend so as she didn’t feel like she was seconds away from falling to the floor. Not that Sara would ever let that happen. “I feel like maybe I should be offended by how much you hate my hair when it’s up.”

 

Sara made a strangled noise of protest. “I don’t hate your bun. It looks good, very sexy. It just so happens that you look even sexier with it down. And all soft and radiant, like wow babe. Plus,” she dropped one of the hands that had been wrapped around Ava’s shoulders to her ass, squeezing the firm muscle, “when I run my fingers through it, it starts to look all pretty and mussed like when I’m fucking you and I’m always down for that.”

She took Ava’s shiver as a sign of victory and did an internal victory dance, dropping her lips to her pulse point. Smiling against the quickening throb beneath honeyed skin as Ava promptly tilts her head back, baring her throat in supplication. She’s about to bite down, to sink into her and lose herself until physical hunger drives away the emotional and they have to stop for dinner when another female voice cuts through their bubble.

 

“ Pardon the interruption Captain, but we have a problem.”

 

The growl that tickles Ava’s shoulder is an entirely different tone from the one Sara had been setting and she can’t help but echo it when the hands that seconds ago were grasping her closer shift to hold her back so she can respond. “Somebody had better be dead, Gideon. Or tell them they’re about to be.”

 

When she responds the AI sounds far more amused than she has any right to be. Sara was not entirely joking. “Not here, no, but we have an aberration forming.”

 

Cursing low under her breath in every language she knows, Sara forced herself to release Ava’s hips and let the woman climb back out of her lap. “Of course we do. Ugh.” She held her hands up, lets Ava drag her back onto her feet even though she was more than capable of accomplishing it herself. “When, where and how bad?”

 

“ London, 1667. As of yet it is contained but-”

 

“ 1667? Wait, that’s just after the fire that followed the Great Plague, right?” A pink flush painted Ava’s cheeks when Sara quirked an eyebrow in her direction. “Shut up. So I like history, it’s literally my job, jerk.”

 

“ The Director is correct. The aberration is causing a mass exodus from what should be a grand rebuild of the city and surrounding countryside. Should it continue the city will never be properly rebuilt, or become a hub for English Royalty, the centerpiece of the formation of the British Empire, a nexus for the Industrial Revolution.”

 

Sara rubbed her temples, thoughts flashing wistfully to the bottle of one of Ava’s favorite wines chilling in her personal ‘nobody-else-better-even-think-about-touching-this’ little corner of the fridge. “All great and terrible things. I’m guessing the effect on the timeline would be-”

 

“ Absolutely catastrophic, yes.”

 

“ Awesome. And I’m also thinking that this couldn’t and shouldn’t be left to wait for, say, twelve hours or so?”

 

“ Afraid not, Captain.”

 

“ Obviously. Ow!” Sara rubbed the red mark on her bicep that she had heard more than felt as if it were an arrow wound. “Uncalled for! I never said I  _ would _ leave it. What kind of Legend do you think I am? Wait, don’t answer that.”

 

Ava gave her a pointed look, already snagging her blazer back from half under Sara’s desk where it had been unceremoniously tossed only a few minutes earlier. “Come on, my love. Duty calls.”

 

“ Stupid timeline.” Sara’s shoulders slumped as she watched Ava quickly twist her hair back up into it’s customary bun, her stubborn lack of help in finding the pins she had scattered around the armchair proving futile when Ava produced more from a pocket somewhere inside and smoothed the last stray tufts of golden silk back into line. “Fine, fine. Let’s get this over with. Gideon, where are my team?”

 

“ Currently the only one aboard the Waverider is Ms. Tomaz. Mr. Rory and Mr. Palmer are currently showing Charlie ‘the sights’ in Star City. John Constantine is, as he said, ‘out for a walk’, though I’m not entirely certain on the when, where or why. Would you like me to call them back?”

 

“ Eh, no. They’ve earned a night off I guess. Me, Ava and Zari can handle this one.” Sara wove her fingers together, stretching her arms over her head and standing on her tiptoes until her back popped. “ZARI. GET IN HERE.”

 

Ava shook her head, watching with fond bemusement as Sara wandered around her office, stuffing knives and various gadgets into pockets – half of which she hadn’t even noticed were there. Her brow creased when she picked up a particularly lengthy and wicked looking one before twirling it in her fingers and stuffing it down one of her boots with what Ava hoped was a lot more care than it looked.

 

“ I SFER EY INNT OOH IH!” Zari appeared in the open doorway clad in dark blue dancing robot pajamas, taking in the blank looks she was receiving and holding up a single finger. Chewed. Swallowed. Wiped a spot of powdered sugar off her nose. “I said I swear I didn’t do it! I haven’t done anything today. Bad...that’s worth yelling about. I even put the puppy back!” A glance at the captain confirmed that she was not amused. And probably about to start yelling again. Zari pointed the remaining half of her doughnut at her and needled, “You know, if you keep this up then we’re going to have to start calling Ava the fun mom.”

 

Sara glowered. Ava just stared, mouth falling open a tad before snapping shut. “What?”

 

“ Hm?” Sara’s eyes softened considerably when the flicked back to her baffled girlfriend before narrowing back in Zari’s direction. “Oh – ignore her she’s being a smart-ass. And what do you mean you  _ put the puppy back _ ?”

 

Chocolate eyes widened innocently. “Slip of the tongue?”

 

“ You know what, I don’t even want to know.” Blissful ignorance, Sara had learned, was sometimes the best policy with the Legend’s. “But I’m having Gideon turn on the fire suppression system in your room if she picks up any creatures in there from now on. Consider yourself warned. And go put on some pants, we have a mission.”

 

“ A mission? Aww man, but we just got back from one yesterday.”

 

“ Yep and now we have to go make sure the British empire is formed.”

 

“What? Ew, why?”

 

Sara bit her tongue to smother the laugh building at the stress she could almost feel radiating from a bristling Ava. “You know why. Sanctity of the timeline and all. Chop, chop! We’re dressing for-”

 

“England 1667. Late Autumn.” Gideon hummed. "Clothing and effects are waiting in the fabrication room, Captain."

 

“ Right, that. C’mon guys, the faster we sort out history the faster we can get back to our time off.”

  
  


*

  
  


‘ _ I was that close to an evening of wine and cuddling.’  _ Ava huffed out a breath, watching it cloud around her face in the low light provided by the moon.

 

It had seemed simple enough when they had arrived around several hours ago in a swath of forest near the recently ruined city. Huge sections of the sprawling metropolis were blackened and crumbling, having fallen to the devastating inferno that had followed so closely on the tail of the Great Plague. The people the trio passed as they made their way along the outskirts were haggard, gaunt. Their ashen faces followed the group with suspicion as Sara led them in a trudge through half frozen muggy ground towards the sounds of a rickety but intact squat little tavern. The hopes of gleaning some information on what (other than the obvious) could be causing people to leave the relative safety of an urban area in droves playing at their minds.

 

Pushing open the heavy oak door, Sara blinked in the oily light spilling from scattered lanterns and ushered her companions inside and towards one of the well-worn tables in the back near a roaring fire. “Keep an ear out, I’ll grab us some food and we’ll see if we can get someone here to talk to us.”

 

Ava nodded, discretely helping Zari figure out how to sit in her layered skirts as she swept her gaze across the room. Though they were far from the only occupants, the tavern wasn’t exactly bustling and not even the warmth and the rich earthy scent of food and ale could drive away the gloomy chill of fear that seeped through the populace outside. Something was just off here. These people should be busy re-establishing their city, rebuilding their lives. Instead everybody seemed to be hanging on tenterhooks, sitting alone and weary or huddled in small barely speaking groups. Ava sucked on her lip, fingers tapping the sticky tabletop as she tracked Sara’s return.

 

Expertly setting the three tankards in her grip down, Sara sat next to Ava, face pulling into a frown as she leaned forward. “So, people here are not happy, and not just in the usual ‘I’m from the 1600‘s and my life sucks’ kinda way.”

 

“ Yeah, I’ve noticed that. I mean things have obviously been pretty terrible for people in the region lately, but this is different. It’s like they’re scared.”

 

Sara nodded at Ava over the lip of her tankard as she took a deep swig, feeling the strong ale settle in her belly. “Because they are. Didn’t get much at first, but when I told the barkeep we were new in town he didn’t waste any time telling me we should go back to where we had left. Said that any folks with common sense were finding new places to try and start again.”

 

Ava’s brow furrowed and she leaned closer, absently taking a sip of her own drink and pulling a face. “Did he say why?”

 

“ Bit of drivel about the city being twice cursed, which I guess is understandable given the last few years here. But get this,” Sara set her empty mug down, stealing a sip out of Ava’s before she wrestled it back, “he mentioned a THIRD curse. Something supposedly hunting the outskirts, killing people at night and leaving little trace. And I got the impression he meant, like, a lot of people.”

 

Sucking in a breath, Ava resumed her tapping. “You mean like a serial killer? That doesn’t sound right. Not here, not now.” Her fingers stopped. “You think we have an anachronism causing this?”

 

“ I mean it seems pretty likely. Especially since he told me the citizens were calling the thing hunting them ‘The Devil’s Dog’.”

 

“ Wait, what? Like some sort of creature? A demon?” Zari, who had been watching their exchange with mostly bored disinterest suddenly sat up straight, looking unreasonably excited at the possibility.

 

“ A creature. I think. Apparently rumor has it it that it comes out at night from the forest we just parked in.” All three women glanced back towards the door, beyond which they knew the sun was just starting to set. “What do you say we head on back out and catch ourselves a big bad anachronism?”

 

Night had well and truly settled in around them by the time they had made it back to the forest. Sara’s keen eyes had easily found the trail described in the report winding through the towering pines. With the remoteness of the location (and a flasher stored securely in Ava’s jacket) the trio hadn’t felt bad about using their powerful flashlights to cut through the inky blackness as they made their way further into the woods. The deeper they got, however, the thicker the trees had become, and the denser the undergrowth. It hadn’t taken long before Zari – who had of course been shining her torch up a tree at an owl rather than keeping an eye on the ground in front of her – had caught her boot on a gnarled root poking out through the loose dirt and had gone sprawling with a dramatic windmilling of her arms and an alarmed squawk that she would later deny having ever produced.

 

“ Zari!” Sara’s voice betrayed her equal parts worry and exasperation as she turned on her heel, moving quickly to her teammates side.

 

“ I’m fine, I’m fine-  _ ouch _ don’t poke it!”

 

Sara ignored her, gently manipulating her booted ankle and pursing her lips when the action provoked a yip. “Not broken, but definitely a nasty sprain. What did I tell you about watching where you were going?”

 

“ I don’t remember,” the hacker sassed back, “I was too busy watching you watch Ava’s ass. Hey! Ow!”

 

“ You’re fine.” Sara finished loosening Zari’s laces and cast her eyes around the path. “Dammit, we’re going to have to go back until Gideon can sort this out.” She stood smoothly, brushing twigs and dirt off her knees before striding over to one of the smaller pine trees that pressed around them on both sides;  cleanly snapping off a low-hanging branch with a sharp kick. She used one of her knives to shear off the small offshoots along its length before passing it to Zari and bending down to hoist her back up onto her feet. Only to freeze in place when the breeze carried a sound through the trees, and to her ears, that should definitely not be out here. She glanced to her side, where Ava has gone still too, her head tilted slightly and lips downturned. “You heard that, right?”

 

“ Yeah. Came from in front of us, to the left.”

 

“ Probably not far.” Sara agreed. Her eyes flicked down to Zari, who was twisting her head to squint into the darkness. “Should we-”

 

“ Help! Hello? Somebody, please, help me! HELP!”

 

Sara leapt to her feet, intent on racing towards the distress call but was beaten by Ava. “Stay with Zari, I’ll go check it out.”

 

Sara grasped for her arm, cursing when she was too slow and Ava was already fading into the oppressive darkness beyond the light from where she had set her torch down next to Zari’s. “Ava, wait!”

 

“ I’ll be fine, I just need to make sure it doesn’t have anything to do with our aberration.” And with that Ava was gone, torchlight bobbing off into the distance as her long stride carried her away faster and further than Sara could form a proper protest.

 

It took several minutes of crashing through the bush for Ava to come bursting out into a small clearing. The silvery glow of the moon was able to peek over the tops of the towering trees that bordered it to provide enough of a silhouette that Ava could ascertain it was empty from much other than a few boulders. She could have sworn the cry came from around here somewhere. “Hello?” Ava swept the beam of her torch slowly from side to side. “Who’s out there?”

 

Silence. Then more crackling, something heavy moving through the underbrush to her left. Ava spun, breath catching in her throat as the light cut through the gloom. A yellow glow glinted and flashed from chest height near the trunk of a towering pine and Ava froze in place as she realized what she was looking at. And what was looking back at her. Two feral, intelligent yellow eyes shining piercing out in the dark from the face of a….

 

Oh god yeah, okay. That was a wolf. A very, very big wolf.

 

Heart pounding, Ava kept her eyes and light locked on the creature, free hand going to her hip. She cursed as her fingers found nothing. She was unarmed.  _ Shit _ . Casting her gaze around for something, anything that she could use to defend herself, Ava didn’t see the wolf move until it was almost on top of her. As it was, she was too late to move, only just barely getting her right arm up and her elbow locked in a block in front of her neck in time. Powerful jaws clamped down on her lower forearm, razor sharp fangs cutting through her overcoat like it was tissue paper and sinking deep into flesh and muscle, only stopping when they lodged in bone. Agony burst from around the crushing grip and Ava screamed, reflexively kicking out into the wolfs barreled chest and trying in vain to yank her arm back, panic setting in when it didn’t even seem to notice. Her torch had been abandoned somewhere in the struggle in favor of defending herself, and Ava didn’t see or hear anything other than her frantic struggle with the animal still fervently attached to her arm until suddenly it tensed then went limp against her, the dead-weight dragging her down and pinning her to the cold, damp ground.

 

Confused, Ava kicked out again, her uninjured hand scrabbling with the wolfs thick coat, frantically trying to free herself as small stones dug into her back and sticky warmth seeped through to drip and pool against her collar from what she could only hope was a still attached forearm.

 

“ It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

 

Ava almost sobbed with relief as her girlfriends voice broke through her panic. Suddenly the suffocating weight was gone, Sara easily hoisting the limp mass off of her and to the side, revealing the hunting knife buried to the hilt in the side of the wolf’s neck with deadly accuracy.

 

“ Did it get you? It looked like,  _ fuck _ , yeah, okay, it got you.” Sara sat her up and eased Ava’s jacket off her shoulders, carefully pulling her badly wounded arm away from her chest and inspecting it with worried eyes. Using yet another knife stashed somewhere on her hip, Sara quickly and efficiently cut off Ava’s already ruined undershirt, leaving her in only her 21st century tank top, and tore it into strips, wrapping her arm tightly before helping her to her feet. Grabbing her shoulders when she swayed and giving her a quick once-over. “Are you okay? Anything else hurt? You both went down pretty hard there. Shit.” Crimson was already seeping through the makeshift bandage and Sara shed one of her own shirts to improvise another layer, winding a strip over Ava’s uninjured shoulder and along her torso to strap the limb still and elevated against her chest.

 

Ava shook her head gingerly. “Just a bit bruised on my chest and back I think. Nothing feels broken.” Except her arm, which was throbbing and burning like a son of a bitch. Another gust of wind wound its way through the trees, ruffling their hair and raising goosebumps on Ava’s bare shoulders with it’s icy grasp. Sara saw her shudder and immediately helped her back into her coat, taking off the hat on her own head and pulling it firmly down past Ava’s ears despite her weak protests. “Thanks. Guess I owe you my life again, huh?” She was trying for teasing, but it came out strained and fell flat.

 

“ God, don’t even…I didn’t even realize how far you had gone until I heard you scream, and I felt like it took forever to get to you, and all I could see was that thing on top of you.” Sara slipped her arms around Ava’s hips, mindful of her injury when she shook her slightly before clutching her close. “Don’t you dare do that to me again.”

 

“ Funnily enough, it wasn’t on my agenda for the evening.” Ava rolled her eyes, gritting her teeth against the steady throb as damaged tissue and muscle began to really make their complaints known over her fading adrenaline rush.

 

A stream of curses announced Zari’s arrival as she limped her way through the trees with the help of her improvised walking stick, the glare from the torch clutched in her free almost blinding both the women in the clearing. “Hey guys, what the – oh damn, you okay, Ava?”

 

“ I’m fine.” Ava carefully extracted herself from Sara’s hold. “Just had a bit of a wrestle with the local wildlife.”

 

Zari finally noticed the slumped wolf lying in a matted heap beside her friends, eyebrows rocketing almost up to her hairline. “Um, that does not look local to me. It’s freakin’ huge. I didn’t know wolves got that big, do they really get that big?”

 

Sara pursed her lips, shaking her head. “No.” She moved past Ava, crouching down next to the fallen beast and inspecting it with a critical eye. Pulling her hunting knife free with cool detachment at the wet sucking noise that had the other two cringing, she frowned deeply as she caught sight of something glinting amongst the debris caught in the thick fur. Tracing the delicate silver chain around the creatures neck she pulled out a small, intricately detailed totem of a howling wolf. “What in the world?”

 

With a sharp tug the figure came free, and as Sara held it up to her torch light to inspect it closer the body of the wolf began to twitch and shudder. Seconds later it was gone, morphing into the still form of a burly human man. “Well that’s-”

 

“ New.” Muttered Ava through her clamped jaw.

 

“ Fuckin’ weird.” Piped up Zari from her other side where she was most definitely not using Ava’s taller frame as a wind barrier.

 

“ -Unusual.” Finished Sara, dusting off her knees as she straightened back up. “And definitely magic. Guess we found the source of our anachronism after all.” She nudged the body with her boot. “Should we drop him off at the Bureau?”

 

“ Probably. I’ll have some of my agents down in sciences take a look at the body, see what they can figure out. And check to make sure killing him didn’t cause any other problems.”

 

Sara nodded absently, wavering before coming to a decision. “Okay. Zari, stay here with Ava. I’ll bring the ship to you guys.” The kiss she pressed to Ava’s forehead was automatic before she set of back through the forest at a fast jog, disappearing amongst the trees.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright folks, chapter two! Now featuring: fluffy!Ava, fluffier Avalance, the rest of the Legend's family, and 'dont-worry-captain-i-can-totally-fix-this' Gideon! Once again, thanks to EchoGalen for being an awesome beta and for putting up with me rambling about ideas for this story at all hours.

 

The second they were back on board the Waverider, Sara had all but carried a considerably paler and weaker than normal Ava into the medbay, her voice edging towards hysteria as she yelled for the ship AI. She ushered Ava into one of the chairs, fussing with the cuff until she had her connected and Gideon had hit her with a much appreciated first wave of painkillers and antibiotics.

“Gideon! Is she going to be okay? You can fix this, right? She’ll be okay?” Sara knew the answer to that, of course. Gideon has healed bullet wounds and severed limbs, brought her back intact from her broken neck, but this is different. This is  _ Ava  _ and for all her training Sara can no more ignore the worry churning through her entire being than she could balance the moon on her pinky finger.

To her credit, Gideon seemed to just know this, because of course she did, and her tone when she replied was calm, even. “She will make a full recovery Captain.” The AI paused for a moment, allowing Sara to collect herself. “The bite is large and has torn through a substantial amount of muscle, as well as causing varying degrees of damage to nerves and the underlying bone. I should be able to heal it entirely, without any scarring, but it will take just under half an hour or so.”

Sara blew out a breath through her teeth, rubbing her hand across her forehead. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Gideon.” She flopped down in a chair Zari had somehow managed to drag in with her, the hacker seeming to have made the silent decision to stay with her captain while they waited for Ava to finish treatment.

Sara knew that in reality it was no time at all, certainly nothing like the months of recovery her girlfriend would likely be looking at in a regular hospital, but the minutes had crawled by for an eternity as she watched the lights pulsing around Ava’s arm as equipment whirred and hummed around them before Gideon had finally announced that she was finished and bringing Ava off the anesthetic. Sara was on her feet before Gideon had even finished speaking, she barely felt Zari slap her on the shoulder, nodding absently when she wished her a good night before slipping out of the room. By the time the door had closed behind her, Sara had cupped Ava’s cheek in her palm, stooping low as she waited with bated breath for her to come around.

It took only a scant few heartbeats before crystal blues flickered open to fix on her, befuddled for a moment before remembering where she was and why. “Hi.”

As was typical upon waking Ava’s voice was an octave lower, a gravelly rasp that Sara considered one of her very favorite sounds in the world, along with laughing Ava and moaning Ava. The relief the sound brought Sara had her close the gap between their faces, nose nuzzling affectionately against Ava’s. “Hey yourself. How are you feeling? Any pain?”

Ava sat up, shaking her head as Sara supported her, hovering anxiously. “Nothing. I feel good as new.” She lifted her right arm, turning it slowly, only mildly surprised when she found not a hair out of place. The capabilities of Gideon and the medbay still took a little getting used to, though Ava was eternally grateful for the amount of times it had proven invaluable. “Thank you, Gideon. Any issues?”

“You are welcome, Director. And no, all my scans are coming back clear. You are free to go.”

Slipping out of the chair, Ava shook her head fondly when Sara grasped her arm, clearly ready to support her weight should her legs fail. “I’m fine, babe. You heard Gideon.” Still, her lips quirked up at the stoic captains fussing. Sara’s soft side was something most people would struggle to believe she possessed, and something that Ava would never take for granted despite the fact she got to see it so often.

“Yeah. Of course. Yeah.” Sara released Ava’s arm, wringing her hands a little before twining the fingers of her left one with Ava’s right. Grinned like a teenager when she felt Ava squeeze her palm. “So, uh, that mission didn’t go as well as I had hoped.”

Ava scoffed, but her eyes were twinkling and her smile remained in place as she shot back, “Does it ever?”

“Hey!” Sara tugged Ava until she was in her arms, tickling her sides until she giggled and tried to squirm away. “Pipe down in the cheap seats Miss ‘run-off-alone-into-the-dark-woods’. That was a classic Legend move and you know it.” She mimicked Ava’s look of exaggerated outrage. “I think I’m rubbing off on you, babe.”

“You wish you were rubbing off on me. Um,” Ava’s cheeks pinked, “wait.”

A chuckle against her neck. “Well, you’re not wrong.” Sara’s full lips pressed a kiss to her throat, smiling into her skin when she gave a pleased hum.

“Captain Lance.” Gideon’s even tone came across as just a touch disapproving as she interrupted them to point out, “Perhaps you should not be doing this in the medbay. Again.”

Sara rolled her eyes at the wall, about to sass the AI right back when Ava’s hand slid down from where she had been shamelessly feeling up Sara’s abs along the front seam of her pants. “You know, she has a point.” Cupping and squeezing the heat she could feel radiating against her palm. “Why don’t you take me to bed, Captain, and I can show you just how grateful I am?”

Breath catching in her throat, blue eyes darkened as Sara took in her words. “Well, I suppose it would be remiss of me not to thoroughly check you over to make sure you’re all in one piece now, wouldn’t it?”

“Incredibly irresponsible, yes.” Ava agreed. “Take me to bed, Sara.”

Sara didn’t think she’d ever followed an order so quickly in her life.

  
  


*

 

By all accounts, the next time Ava woke up should have been better than the last.

It wasn’t.

Ava’s head was pounding so hard she could barely hear herself think. All she could focus on was the overwhelming scent Sara, and a metallic tang that made her nose itch in-between painful thumps reverberating through her skull. It was only when she rolled over and tried to sit up, fearing that she was going to be sick, that Ava realized how much the rest of her hurt as well. Her muscles were tense and aching like she had spent the whole day in the gym without stretching and there was a deep throb in her bones that intensified into sharp needling around her joints.

Fuck.

She knew wandering through that forest in the cold was a bad idea. Now she was sick. Like, really sick. In fact Ava couldn’t remember ever feeling this sick in her life. Although, she winced, considering she didn’t think she’d actually ever been sick outside of her manufactured memories that might make sense. God. Did people really feel like this when they got the flu? This was hell.

“Aves? You ok?”

While she would typically awaken at the slightest of out of place sound or movement, Sara’s voice was low, still slurred with the thickness of sleep and in that moment the thought of disturbing her clearly exhausted girlfriend was worse than the discomfort plaguing her body. “Yeah. Just need the bathroom. Go back to sleep, babe.”

Sara grunted, stealing Ava’s pillow in place of her girlfriend and squeezing it to her chest. “Mmkay.”

With the help of the ships walls Ava managed to drag herself along the dimly lit corridors, relying mostly on memory as her low-light vision didn’t seem to be functioning like it normally did. The harsh fluorescent lights of the bathroom were like needles through her burning eyes, and Ava groaned, squinting as she stumbled forward and caught the edge of the basin, sweaty palms almost slipping off before she caught herself, leaning heavily. Shudders wracked her frame and she dry heaved, coughing up nothing but spit even as her stomach turned itself upside down and her head spun like a deranged circus ride.

As she struggled to brace herself, Ava became aware of just how her right forearm was burning, itching like a million fire ants were trying to chew their way out through her skin. She lifted it, forcing her eyes to focus and frowning at the blurry outline. Half her arm was red, but even through her swimming vision she can clearly make out the angry purple outline of the bite Gideon had supposedly healed hours earlier. Shit. That shouldn’t be a thing. Especially not a swollen, infected thing. The bite was gone! She saw it with her own two- much more focused at the time- eyes! Wait, maybe she was hallucinating. It did kind of feel like she was hallucinating, all disconnected and fuzzy around the edges. Damn, maybe she should have woken up Sara.

Oh wait. The helpful ship AI.

“Gideon?” Or at least that's what Ava tried to say, but what ended up coming out was more of a ‘guh’ that morphed into a guttural scream as she was hit by a wave of dizziness and pain that sent her to her knees. The pain peaked but somehow didn’t fade, and as she choked for air Ava was dimly aware of her muscles beginning to cramp and spasm before it all became to much and her world faded into blissful darkness.

  
  


*

  
  


“Wake up, Captain Lance.”

The unusually loud British lilt kicked Sara rudely and abruptly out of her peaceful dreams. “Huh? What? Gideon?”

“I’m afraid we have a situation on board.”

“A situation? Wait, where’s Ava?” The right side of her bed was empty and cold and Sara bolted upright, adrenaline chasing away the last remnants of sleep.

“In the bathroom. Which is where-” Gideon didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence as Sara was kicking the sheets off and out of her room in a flash, bare feet racing along the corridor towards the bathroom.

“Ava!”

“Captain, I must warn you-” It was too late, Sara had already wrenched open the door. Coming face to face with what, literally anywhere else in the world, would probably be a shocking sight.

Sara’s eyes widened as she took in the large muscular form, thick bushy coat and pointed ears. “ _ You _ !” She stalked towards the wolf, snarling as it scrambled to stand, falling messily to the tiles several times before making it mostly upright, legs splayed. Big blue eyes blinked back at her rapidly, ears flicking. “How the hell did you get on my ship? And where is my girlfriend!?”

The wolf made a strangled whining sound, looking down at its pale paws and taking a shaky step towards her. Sara rolled her eyes, what was she doing? Talking to an animal when she should be focused on finding Ava. “You know what, I don’t care how or why you got here. I’ve killed your furry ass once, and I’ll do it again.”

Lashing out without further warning she caught the wolf unaware by the dark scruff of its neck, the creature unable to evade the lightning fast strike but finally reacting when she tried to bear down and pin it to the floor. Long, deadly looking teeth snapped at the arm holding it. Never meeting skin, but giving Sara enough of a distraction that her hold broke when the wolf thrashed backwards. Scrambling away from her the animal looked briefly between Sara and the open doorway for a split second before bolting, claws scrabbling fruitlessly against the ships decking as it’s decidedly uncoordinated gait sent it crashing into the wall of the hallway it was heading for. Bouncing off, the wolf paused to turn back, stumbling off up the hall in the direction of the bridge when Sara sprang back to her feet and gave chase. The creature was a lot slower than the previous charade in the woods had suggested (maybe it hadn’t fully recovered from her killing it) and the pursuit didn’t last long, Sara easily catching up as it rounded the corner to the galley.

“Hold on for a moment, Captain Lance, I really think you should know-” Once again the AI’s warning was abruptly cut off when Sara caught sight of the tip of a tail disappearing behind the kitchen island.

“Not now, Gid! Seal the kitchen doors!” A grim smile of satisfaction settled on Sara’s face as a heavy metal door slammed down inches from the fleeing wolf's snout, eliciting a yelp. The creature clawed briefly at the door, leaving shallow scratches in the steel before turning to face her, long wiry limbs sinking into a defensive crouch, muzzle pulled back to reveal a row of pearly fangs. Eyes locked with it, Sara reached over and drew a large, wickedly sharp knife from the block on the bench. Twirling it in her grip she advanced, watching with dark satisfaction as the wolf seemed to cower further, belly almost pressed to the deck.

“All right you bastard. You have five seconds to turn back into your ugly ass self and tell me what the fuck you’re doing on my ship, or I start skinning you for my office floor.”

The creature remained frozen in place, muscles tense, ears flat against its head. A low whimper cut through the air between them, making Sara falter for a second before she grit her teeth.

“Last chance. How did you get here, and where is Ava?”

Another whimper, then more silence. The wolf didn’t change forms, didn’t move. “Fine, have it your way. New rug it is.”

“Captain Lance, STOP!”

Aggravated, Sara almost threw the blade in her hand into a wall out of pure annoyance. “What, Gideon?!”

“Despite her appearance, I do not believe Director Sharpe is a threat. Nor do I think you wish to hurt her.”

“What?! Wait...” The knife slipped from slack fingers, clattering harmlessly to the floor. “What?!  _ Ava?” _

The wolf shifted in place, lifting it’s (her?) head slowly, crystal blue eyes locking with Sara.

“Holy shit. Ava?”

The wolf gave a low whine and slunk towards her, almost crawling as it gazed up at her with pleading eyes.

“Oh you have got to be kidding me. Gideon?”

The ships AI whirred. “It would seem so. I witnessed the transformation myself, and her current form still holds markers of Director Sharpe’s DNA.”

Sara dropped her gaze from where she had been staring slack jawed at the ceiling (a habit she had yet to break despite know that the ship's computer was in fact everywhere), to gawk at the animal across from her. “But how? And why...and-and how?!?”

This time Gideon’s reply was toned with genuine regret. “I must apologize, Captain. While I originally concluded that certain abnormalities in Director Sharpe’s blood were an immune response from her...unique biology, I now believe they were a foreign element introduced via the bite sustained from the creature during your last mission.”

Sara’s mind flashed back to the moment she had burst into that icy clearing and seen the massive beast practically on top of Ava, frothing jaws wrapped around her arm, paws rearing back to cleave open her chest. She blanched, a quick shake of her head forcing the memory away to join the other ghosts of her past so that she could focus on Gideon as the AI continued to speak after a brief pause.

“It seems these foreign elements have increased in her system, to a level that I am now able to detect them with a standard scans. I cannot, however, determine exactly what they are. Their qualities are neither viral or bacterial, and yet they are clearly a living cell response.”

“Holy Beebo. Is she okay? I mean...” Sara glanced down at the large creature cowering before her and grimaced. “Obviously she’s not  _ okay _ , okay. But is this hurting her?”

“From what I observed the onset and transformation was not without pain or discomfort. Quite the opposite, unfortunately, which is one of the reasons I woke you once it became clear the director could not obtain or call for assistance herself. Presently however, though her hormonal and stress markers remain notably high I do not detect any pain or injury from either her current state or your brief altercation.”

Sara sucked in a sharp breath, closing the distance the wolf –  _ Ava –  _ had left between to crouch in front of her to meet the still decidedly frightened eyes of her girlfriend. “Oh my god, Aves. I’m SO sorry. I had no idea it was you. I – I would never...” Sara’s panicked rambling trailed off as her brain finally caught up to her hand, which had automatically gone to stroke Ava’s cheek soothingly and was now buried in thick, silky fur. Fascinated, she trailed her fingers through it mesmerized by how the almost snow dusted looking white tips darkened into deep slate grey before fading back out closer to her skin. Ava seemed to relax at the attention, subconsciously pressing closer as Sara combed through her coat, and to Sara’s delight when she stroked upwards to scratch the base of a large ear her bushy tail gave a short wag.

“Oh, you like that?” Ava’s tail dropped as she pulled her head away, Sara not needing to see her face to know she was embarrassed. “Hey, no, come back. It’s fine! Just like me stroking your hair, huh? And I know how much you love that.”

A soft rumble bubbled from deep in Ava’s chest and she jerked a little, startled.

Sara couldn’t help it, the short giggle bursting out of her lips against her will. Ava just looked so adorably confused, like a puppy that had just discovered something new and wasn’t entirely sure if she should be afraid of it. “I’m sorry babe, I’m not laughing  _ at _ you. Not really it's just the whole...” She made a sweeping gesture at Ava. “The big blue eyes and the pointy ears, and the face, how do you make your face do that thing when you aren’t even like,  _ you _ you? It’s cute. You’re so cute, Aves.” The new, disgruntled bearing on offended expression did not change that.

Sara forced her lips to smooth down into a more neutral position, eyes still twinkling in betrayal of her mirth while she contemplated where to go from here. The wolf turning out to be Ava solved one problem, but raised a whole new set. And some questions. Sara had a lot of questions. “I guess we should get you to the medbay. Hopefully Gideon will be able to reverse this.”

However Ava or Gideon may have responded, neither got a chance as the rest of the Legends lived up to their near perfect record of terrible timing to suddenly join them. Leading the pack was a worried looking Ray in flannel pajamas, followed closely by a rumpled Zari and dressing gown clad Constantine, Mick and Charlie bringing up the rear with a distinct aura of annoyance.

Immediately Ray, who seemed to be the most awake of them all even with his bare feet and anxious expression bombarded Sara with questions. “What’s going on, Captain? Do we have a mission? Um, knives, you have knives, are we under attack?” He peered around her, jaw dropping as he took in Ava who was trying fruitlessly to hide her large frame behind Sara’s. “Wait, did you get a dog? Woah, it’s...um scary looking!” Dark eyes widened as he hastened to add, “I mean, that’s cool! I bet it’ll be perfect!” His forehead wrinkled as he finally paused to take in a breath. “But I thought you said no pets?”

“Pet?” Mick took a gulp from the beer in his fist. Squinted at Ava. “Hate to break it to you boss, but that’s a wolf.”

“No she’s not. Well,” “Sara pinched the bridge of her nose, pushing down the band of pressure she could feel forming around her temples. “I mean yes, but...no.”

Zari poked her head up over Micks shoulder, elbowing him out of the way so she could dash forward for a better look. “Wait.” Her arms flailed as she skidded to a stop, excitement taking an abrupt turn towards alarm. “Isn’t that the thing from the forest?! How is it alive? And here? It’s not a good pet, he bit Ava!”

Sara didn’t have to look at Ava to sense her reaction to that and her gut twisted. “ _ Don’t _ call her a thing. Or an ‘it’.” She dropped a hand to Ava’s head, a calming anchor for the storm she knew must be raging in her mind right now. “Put down the blaster please, Ray. We’re not under attack – lucky for you lot since you would have slept right through it if we were.”

“Hey! Gideon normally wakes us.” Zari crossed her arms, gaze still locked at the captain’s side. “And when did not-an-it become a her?”

“I don’t even know where to begin.” Sara waved her team to the side, continuing on her original quest to the medbay. Didn’t bother arguing when the group trailed after her like a bunch of unruly ducklings. “It’s complicated.”

“The wolf is Director Sharpe.” Of course Gideon would prove her wrong in a single sentence.

“What?!” Everyone except John expressed some mix of shock and confusion at the matter-of-fact announcement from the ship AI.

The demonologist on the other hand was visibly intrigued. “They swapped consciousness? Some sort of mind meld?” He jogged closer, openly staring.

“No, as in the wolf is literally Ava.” Sara paused in the doorway to let Ava slip past into the medbay first, blocking John as he reached out. “Don’t touch her.”

“Worried she’ll bite?”

John smirked, tossed Sara a wink which she responded to with a thunderous glare. “More like I’ll break your fucking fingers.”

It may have been the stress of the situation, the headache throbbing behind her forehead or simply the stark reality she one again found herself faced with but either way the medbay lights seemed harsher than normal as Sara led Ava to the same treatment chair for the second time in less than twelve hours. This time though she paused once they got there, Gideon anticipating the question before it had finished forming.

“She doesn’t have to be on the chair, Captain. Just put one of the bands around her upper leg.” Sara picked the treatment and monitoring cuff a nearby tray, hesitating. “Any leg will do.”

“Right.” Sara did her best to ignore the Legends crowding the room and doorway to focus on Ava. She brushed her fingers through the fluffy down at the base of a pointed ear, waiting for crystal blues to focus on her. “You get all that, babe?” Sara had never been much for pet names, not since she was a teenager literal lifetimes ago, but something about Ava brought out that softness in her again. And frankly, with the current situation she didn’t care who else heard or what they thought about their hard-ass captain. They could try and tease her later if they dared, the only thing that mattered to her in this moment was staring back up at her past a long snout. She waited for the wolf to bob its head, weight shifting to offer up her left foreleg before she wrapped the cuff around it, careful not to snag any fur in the process.

The display screens flickered to life, several complex scans popping up as Gideon began running a battery of tests but Sara’s attention was stuck on one. “Shit, Gideon? Why is her heart rate so high? It shouldn’t be that high right?” Her fingers rubbed nervously at Ava’s head as she resisted the urge to pace.

“Her vitals are all within normal, Captain Lance, I assure you.”

“Almost two hundred beats per minute while she’s standing still isn’t normal, Gideon! That’s heart attack territory!”

“Were she human I would be concerned, however wolves heart rates can sit comfortably anywhere between just under fifty and two hundred and twenty. The Director is still showing signs of considerable stress, but I assure you she is in no physical danger. Would you like the exact figures?”

Sara exhaled heavily, sitting down on the treatment chair herself. “No, just as long as she is okay.”

“Physically sound, and perfectly healthy. Interestingly, though she is definitely a wolf, I am unable to find an exact species match for her. Her  musculoskeletal system holds several differences. She is bigger than any known wolf as well.” Gideon fell silent for a moment, display screens jumping between figures. “Roughly just under a third bigger than a typical full grown grey wolf to be exact, though her limbs are slightly longer than would be expected for her proportions which probably makes her appear larger.”

“Ha!” Zari clapped. “Even wolf Ava has her ridiculous amount of legs.”

Gideon ignored the interruption. “Her paws are also a touch larger to compensate, I suspect the problems she was having with her movement were merely from the adjustment to being on all fours rather than any physical complication.”

“Oh wow, imagine the toe beans! Sara, tell Ava to show me her paw. Please?”

“No, Zari. And put that down before you break it.”

Right on cue Zari dropped the injector unit she had been fiddling with. “So she IS just like the dude from the mission! Oh my god.” She slapped a bored looking Charlie on the arm. “The wolf dude who bit her! So now she’s a werewolf!”

John Constantine snorted. “She ain’t a werewolf, love.” He pulled out a cigarette, sticking it between his lips before Zari snatched it away. “Oi!”

“No smoking on the ship!” Zari stuffed the stolen smoke into the medbay recycling unit. “And duh, obviously she’s a werewolf. Wolfy guy bit her, boom, now she’s a wolf. Isn’t that how it works?”

“Ugh, bunch of – fine. As I was saying, I’ve seen more than one werewolf in my travels and that,” John jabbed a thumb towards Ava, “is nothing like the filthy beasts. Sharpie should consider herself lucky for that. Besides, werewolves need a full moon to change and there is no moon – full or otherwise – in the temporal zone.”

Sara blinked, digesting the unexpected information. While she hadn’t figured out much of what was going on, she had to admit she had been drawing the same conclusion as Zari. “So what is she then?”

Charlie kicked off the wall she’d been leaning against and cracked her neck before shrugging. “Don’t look at me. She can’t be a shapeshifter. It ain’t contagious.” She paused, considering. “Although, actually, now that I think about it I  _ have  _ heard of single-form animal shifters.” Charlie shrugged her shoulders. “It was a long time ago, but from what I remember your girl would fit the description of one to the letter. Dunno if they could change a person with their bite though, and they were supposedly seclusive and non-aggressive.”

“So, if she’s some kind of shapeshifter...that means she should be able to shift back right? Into human Ava.”

Another shrug. “Yeah, obviously. Like me they could apparently change at will.” Charlie watched her captains face light up then fall into a confused frown. “But I mean Ava clearly has no idea what she’s doing or how she did in in the first place. And she looks about as calm and focused right now as a three year old on a bad trip.”

A loud beep from one of the monitors interrupted the discussion. “I have finished cataloging the foreign cells present in the director.” Gideon brought up a readout on the screen. “I have almost synthesized a safe way to remove all-” Gideon paused, a trickle of worry entering what was normally an even tone, “hold on. Oh, bollocks.”

“What? What is it?” Looking rapidly between Ava and the now flashing screen behind the chair, Sara was too busy trying to figure out what was wrong to notice she was anxiously tightening her fist until the wolf gave a pained yip. Her apology withered and died in her throat when Ava jerked away from her abruptly, leaving her with a handful of fur. “Woah, Aves?” Several monitors began screeching a heartbeat before Ava’s legs went out from under her, spine bowing back as she drowned out the alarms with a bone-chilling howl that hit Sara in the gut like a sack of bricks. “AVA!”

“Stand back, Captain Lance.”

“What’s happening?! Gideon, do something!”

The wolf’s flanks heaved, limbs thrashing as a series of shark cracks had even Mick’s stomach churning. Silvery fur rippled and faded as Ava seemed to somehow both shrink and grow at once, and by the time Sara had broken free of her shock to reach for her she found herself cradling smooth, bare skin. Heart flipping in her throat Sara traced the sculpted jaw resting against her thigh, stroked Ava’s cheek until her long lashes twitched open. Watery blue eyes stared back up at her and despite the obvious pain reflected in them Sara was so relieved that she almost didn’t register Ava’s state of undress until Zari cleared her throat pointedly from where she had planted herself firmly in front of the only angle where the pair was visible to the rest of the Legends still gathered near the door.

Mick strode over to one of the cabinets, returning with a soft blue medbay blanket which her held out wordlessly, eyes still fixed on the opposite wall. Sara took it with a hurried thanks, wrapping it tightly around Ava’s bare shoulders before scooping her still trembling form up off the floor and setting her back down carefully in the chair. “Zari, could you please go to our room and grab some clothes for Ava? Left side set of drawers.”

The hacker raised a brow at her captains casual statement of her quarters now being shared occupancy but Sara didn’t even seemed to have noticed, all her focus on re-connecting the cuff to Ava’s arm, speaking to her the whole while in a low, soothing tone none of the others could quite make out. By the time Zari had returned with a soft white t-shirt and a pair of track pants (that she still couldn’t quite believe the director owned but were certainly too long to be Sara’s), Gideon had just finished administering the serum to destroy the mutations in Ava’s bloodstream. Ava was paler than usual, features drawn and tired and as she handed the bundle of clothes over to Sara, Zari noted that she didn’t look much better.

She also looked about ready to put their resident demonologist through a wall.

“-at least let me look at her scans!”

Sara shook her head. “Gideon, seal Ava’s medical file.”

“Already done, Captain Lance.”

“Thank you. Now.” Sara snapped her fingers, her team immediately focusing on her. “Show’s over. Get your butts back to bed.”

There was a lot of grumbling, a bit of whining and more than one curse word thrown around but with sufficient shooing (and only a few threats), Sara finally found herself alone in the medbay with Ava. Blowing out a huff of air, she turned to find Ava sitting upright, a hint of a smile peeking through her otherwise strained demeanor. “Nice work, mom.”

“Uh-uh, don’t even start.” Sara leaned over her and tapped her on the nose. Tried not to look quite as exhausted or utterly fucking relieved as she’s feeling. Tried and failed, if the look on her girlfriends face was anything to go by. “So. That was a day.”

Ava crinkled her nose. “Well, actually, I think technically it was two days.”

“We’re on a timeship. My timeship. It can be one day if I say so.”

Ava laughed, soft and light and a little bit more of the icy dread that had only just started to thaw with the relief of seeing Ava turn back dripped away from where it had held Sara’s guts in it’s frigid grip. Because Ava was here, was  _ Ava _ again and she’s fine and unharmed and...and...she’s fine. Because of course she was.

She was also clearly about to fall asleep right there in the chair, and honestly Sara couldn’t blame her given that if it was just a bit more roomy she’d likely be joining her. As it was though, they had a perfectly good room with a big comfy bed waiting for them just down the corridor and Sara wass damned if she’s going to let anything short of a level twelve opening up on the bridge itself from stopping her from dragging Ava back to it and not moving for at least another ten hours. Possibly a week.

First, however, “Gideon, is Ava all clear?”

“Yes, Captain Lance. My scans show that the foreign material has been destroyed and other than minor exhaustion she is in normal physical condition. I would recommend you both take your own advice and return to bed.” A beat. “To sleep.”

“Cheeky bot.” Sara helped Ava up, perhaps unnecessarily, but after the stress of everything in the last few hours she couldn’t help herself. Ava seemed to sense this, indulging her when she pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist. “How are you doing?”

“Fine. I feel fine.” Ava yawned, wide and loud and her words when she continued were a touch slurred. “Tired. Just need bed. Bed and you.”

Unable to completely suppress her own series of yawns that Ava’s had triggered Sara pressed a kiss to her jaw, guiding her through her doorway and doing her best to stop Ava from collapsing face first into the mattress. Only partially succeeded but managed to poke and prod her over onto her side before wriggling in beside her.

Warm and comfortable, secure in a tangle of limbs and a shared sense of contentment, sleep found them both quickly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, onto the next chapter! Huge thank you to everyone who took time to leave comments, they truly make my day.

 

Comfy, lazy morning wake-ups had once been an obscure concept in Sara’s life.

Lately however they had become a lot more common, even with the world and timeline constantly threatening to come crashing down around them, and it seemed that today was another one of those precious days. Something had awoken her, but whatever it was couldn’t be pressing. The room around her was still, quiet underneath the gentle hum of the ship and two shallow sets of breath. Everything was soft and warm and safe, there was no bright glare pressing against her closed eyelids, and each slow inhale brought the addictive scent of Ava and their lovemaking to her nose. Feeling a sleepy smile grow on her face Sara burrowed closer to the cozy form in her arms, fighting off wakefulness for just a while more so she could enjoy the serenity of the moment and…

_ Wait a minute. _

Sara wriggled her fingers, brow furrowing as they sank deeper into downy fluff. That...was not Ava’s hair. One eye cracked open, a second quickly joining it to confirm her suspicions. Barring the extremely unlikely (she hoped) event that the rest of her team had gone AWOL overnight and robbed some sort of zoo then Ava was most definitely a wolf again. A whole lot of furry, fast asleep wolf. Who, now that Sara was paying attention, seemed to be making soft snuffling noises against her shoulder.

Cute.

Weird, but cute.

“Uh, Gideon?” Sara kept her body still, her obvious query a whisper, and was relieved when the AI responded in a similar tone.

“It would seem so, Captain.”

“Well obviously.” Sara’s forehead crinkled, though she found herself more curious than worried. “I thought the cure had worked. You said it worked.”

“By all logic it should have. I thought it had.” Gideon went silent for a moment, and when she spoke again it was with a trace of worry. “Captain Lance, I no longer detect any traces of foreign cells or compounds in Ava at all.”

“Well you might want to check again.” Sara shifted in one smooth movement so she could prop herself up on one elbow without disturbing her girlfriend, sheets and comforter pooling around her waist.. Her other arm remained draped over Ava, fingers still stroking absently along her back. “Because you are very clearly missing something.”

“I have. Multiple times. Given the Director’s current state I must theorize that they are still very much present and active...though no longer foreign.”

“Gideon, it’s early. I got barely any sleep last night. I’m not completely awake here, and my girlfriend is currently rivaling Beebo in the fluff factor. Spell it out for me.”

“Very well, Captain. If I can no longer detect anything unusual in Ava’s biology, though she clearly still retains the effect, then I can only conclude that it is because they are now a part of her. There are no viruses, no intruders. Ava’s cells themselves, though they are still entirely hers, have changed.”

Silence.

Sara’s heart plummeted down to somewhere near her intestines and she swallowed down the panic bubbling up to take its place. “She’s stuck like this?”

“Not in this form, no. She is still capable of changing back into her human self. But the condition itself appears to be permanent.”

“Couldn’t she just learn to control it? And not be the wolf? Charlie doesn’t have to change.”

Gideon hummed for a moment. “While it is possible and in fact highly advisable for the director to learn to control when she shifts forms, I believe that staying in either one for too long would put undue pressure on her systems. Last night before she even began the physical change back into the wolf I detected a steady increase in stress and anxious brain activity. Both leveled out to normal after the shift.”

Opening her mouth to respond, Sara’s attention was rapidly redirected to Ava when she felt her twitch beneath her light hold. Her long back legs flexed in a stretch, contented little rumble escaping her chest before her whole form went rigid and Sara’s heart clenched. “Hey, baby. It’s okay.”

Ice blue eyes blinked open, heavy with sleep and confusion that was rapidly chased away by panic. “I know, Ava. Turns out that cure didn’t exactly take.” Sara tried to keep Ava from wriggling away and succeeded only when she froze, terrified of catching Sara with her claws as she struggled to move across the plush surface. “No, look at me. It’s okay. Gideon says that you can control your shifts okay? You can control it. Even if it turns out we can’t reverse this then you are still you, Aves. We’re gonna figure this out and I will be right here with you along the way, I promise.”

At her words Ava finally lifted her heavy head to meet her eyes once more, a large paw coming to rest next to Sara’s hand. It took her a moment, but warmth blossomed in her chest when she figured it out and took Ava’s paw gently in her hand. “Yeah, pinky swear.”

They lay like that for quite some time, Sara keeping up their connection as she felt Ava’s breathing slow, her larger form gradually relaxing. Finally most of the tension faded and Ava rolled away to flop onto her back with a huff, gaze fixed on the ceiling. “Aves? You all right?”

The wolf grumbled a little, legs sporadically tensing and Sara sat up, leaning back on one of her arms so she could look into her eyes again. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what Ava was trying to do. “Relax, Ava. Just try to relax and focus.” Sara brought her free hand up to rest lightly on her chest, stroking through thick fur. “You can do it. Let me see your beautiful smile, babe.”

Sara jerked back when Ava began to shake, legs drawing in towards her chest as she let out a series of sharp yelps before thrashing so violently she flipped herself over and off the bed with a thump that had Sara cringing. She quickly scooted across after her, relief washing through her when she came face to face with the very human again features of her girlfriend. “Oh wow, see? I knew you could do it.”

Ava groaned in response, slumping back against the deck and closing her eyes. “Shut up.” She ignored Sara dropping down silently next to her, only looking back up at her when calloused fingers began rubbing gentle circles on her bare stomach. “I hate this. I’m sorry I got myself into this stupid mess.”

Sara shook her head, bending to catch full lips in a soft kiss. Ava didn’t pull away, but she also wouldn’t meet her eyes. “It wasn’t your fault. Hey, look at me, please?” She waited until pale blue eyes met hers before continuing. “You didn’t ask that thing to bite you, hell, it’s a total coincidence that you were even along for the ride yesterday. This isn’t your fault, Ava, and beating yourself up about it isn’t going to accomplish anything. So what do you say you call in sick for work, and we start trying to figure things out, hmm?”

Ava hiccuped out a little laugh. “Yeah, okay. You win. No work today.”

Sara did an exaggerated little victory dance. “Finally! I dreamed of one day hearing you say those words, Director, and here we are. So proud.”

 

*

 

Ava was noticeably clingier than usual as they dressed, seemingly reluctant to be more than a few feet away from Sara for too long. With anyone else this would have irked her, not particularly fond of other people in her personal space, but Ava had always been a total exception and Sara probably wouldn’t have even noticed had it not been so out of character. As it was, she didn’t comment, not wanting to make Ava any more uncomfortable than she clearly already was and more than happy to provide a source of reassurance. Sara let Ava link their hands as they made their way to the kitchen, expertly ate her bagel and drank her morning coffee one handed like she did it every morning. Afterwards, she checked the map and magic meter while Ava called Gary to let him know that she was taking some personal time while it was quiet enough to allow her a brief break, and that barring emergencies she wouldn’t be in for the next few days. Sara wasn’t in the slightest bit surprised that Ava had a list of emergency backup and contingency plans ready to go in case of her absence. She also couldn’t help snickering a little at Gary’s obvious mix of happiness for Ava taking some personal time and blind panic at the thought of being at the Time Bureau without her. 

With the map remaining clear, and the magic meter behaving itself for the time being, Sara eventually coaxed a reluctant Ava back to the medbay for the third time in less than two days. Honestly, Sara didn’t think she’d ever been happy about being in this particular room of the ship, but even she could admit that her tolerance for the place was wearing thin. Like Ava, though, she was holding onto hope that once they got there Gideon would be able to run some proper scans, to do her thing and fix this for real. Hope that Gideon quickly dashed.

“I’m afraid not, Captain Lance. Whatever is affecting Director Sharpe has already integrated fully with her body. Attempting to destroy it would fail at best, and likely kill her at worst.”

There was a long, weighted silence after the AI’s words where Sara could almost feel Ava’s heart racing through the nearly crushing grip she had on her hand. When Ava opened her mouth, Sara knew what was coming and quickly cut her off. “No. Absolutely not, not even with a guarantee that it would work.” She turned to cup Ava’s cheek in her palm, forcing her to look up from the floor. “You heard Gideon, you know she wasn’t lying or exaggerating. Any attempts to undo this would probably kill you, Ava. Nothing is worth that.”

Finally, Ava nodded. “Can we keep this between us for now? Please?”

Sara was torn. On one hand she knew Ava, knew her fears and insecurities and understood that she probably wanted to do this in her own time. To come to terms with these changes herself before letting others see them. On the other hand, she also knew her team, and while they could sometimes be as oblivious as a box of rocks they also had an uncanny talent for bad timing and escalating situations. Sara could easily see Zari or John becoming suspicious and ending up making things a hundred percent worse for Ava than they already were.

Her biggest fear, however, was a repeat of her own actions the night before. Sara knew Ava didn’t blame her for her reaction, Ava had told her as much, but that didn’t do much to ease the sickening guilt that settled in her stomach like lead every time she remembered the fact that she had chased her terrified girlfriend through the ship. Had  _ attacked  _ her. With the full intention of hurting her. If it wasn’t for Gideon, in fact, she would probably have even -  _ no _ . Sara couldn’t think about that.  _ Wouldn’t  _ think about that. Not without spiraling back down that path of darkness that had led to her calling things off and breaking both of their hearts in a misguided attempt to protect Ava. It did, though, raise a solid point. The Waverider was, as she had pointed out to Zari only the day before, not always the safest place in the world. They were attacked and boarded far more often than Sara would like, even their first kiss had been interrupted by pirates, for crying out loud. While Sara could be sure she would never repeat her mistake again, she couldn’t guarantee that a panicked, half asleep, Legend wouldn’t mistake Ava in wolf form for an intruder and follow through on their tried and true ‘attack first and let Sara ask questions later’ mentality.

Sara let out a sigh, stepped back just enough that she could read Ava’s reactions properly without breaking contact with her. “I understand, babe, I do. But I think…” She squeezed Ava’s hand. “I think that maybe this time, this isn’t something we can keep between us. It’s just that this ship is crazy, you know that, probably better than anyone.” Sara dropped her guard, let Ava see the fear on her face “With you staying here they are inevitably going to find out, probably by seeing you in wolf form, and what if I’m not here Ava? What if it’s at night again, or when we are under attack and they don’t recognize you? Because I didn’t, and I almost….” She broke off, hand dropping away from Ava’s face to press anxiously to her own lips. Muffling her final confession. “I could have lost you. I can’t lose you, Ava. I don’t know what would be left of me if I did.”

Understanding spread across Ava’s features. “Stop blaming yourself for last night. You had no way of knowing that the wolf was me, Sara. Especially not when I was so quick to run away.” Ava caught Sara’s hand when she attempted to pull away. “I don’t think you would have killed me, not when I wasn’t attacking you. And I know for a fact that if you had realized it was me, you would have never even considered using force to defend yourself.”

“I killed that man yesterday, Ava. I didn’t even hesitate. Didn’t even think about it.”

Ava shook her head. “You didn’t know he was human, Sara. All you saw was an animal attacking me. If our situations were reversed I would have done exactly the same thing. Even if I had known he was a person”

Sara looked up at her, expression uncharacteristically vulnerable, like Ava’s reply could do what many had tried through intimidation and torture and break her with merely a few words. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.  _ Obviously _ , you goober.” Ava rubbed her thumb over Sara’s knuckles, over the barely visible scars, remnants of battle wounds too small for the captain to have had Gideon heal. “That doesn’t make you a monster, Sara. That makes you human.”

Sara beamed at her, dimples popping as she lifted Ava’s hand to her mouth, pressed a gentle kiss to her fingers. “Have I mentioned lately that I love you? Because I do.” She lowered their hands, but kept them joined, tugging Ava along the corridor towards the bridge. It was time to get this over with now, before Ava could work herself up into an anxious mess and talk herself out of it.

It didn’t take long for Sara to call a team meeting, rounding up her whole crew into her office along with a confused Nate and fidgeting Gary who had both been summoned by Ava, and the later of which seemed unreasonably excited about being included in whatever was happening. Sara waited for Ava to start, not wanting to be the one to spill her secret, but when all she managed was to open and close her mouth a few times before shooting Sara a pleading look, she quickly took over.

“All right, everybody shut up and listen.” All eyes focused on Sara instantly, Gary all but tripping over his own feet as he snapped to attention next to John. “Most of you know what happened last night, when Ava turned into a wolf.” Her team nodded, Mick saluting Ava with his beer and John smirking at her while Gary and Nate’s jaws dropped. Sara didn’t give them a chance to interrupt. “As John and Charlie helped figure out, it was a result of the bite she got during our last mission.” Gary broke out of his stupor with a squeak of alarm, gazing anxiously at Ava for signs of injury. “What you don’t know is Gideon’s cure didn’t work. Whatever the cause, it has entangled itself with Ava’s DNA and we can’t undo it, not without probably killing her. So while nothing has really changed, she’s still Director Sharpe, she also is sometimes going to be like last night. A wolf. Gideon says it’s bad for her to try and stay in human form all the time, so everybody is going to have to get used to that because I will not tolerate any bullshit. Is that clear?” Sara crossed her arms over her chest, giving one of her strongest force ‘no-nonsense’ glares until her team was nodding in agreement and Gary looked like a deer in headlights. “Good. Any questions?”

John slipped his hands in his pockets, leaning back against the wall with a grin. “She housetrained?”

Ava ducked her head, hiding behind the curtain of her hair and Sara scowled, tossing a metal mug from her desk across the room and nailing him in the solar-plexus with enough force to have him stumbling sideways. “Don’t be a dick. Any non-stupid questions?”

“Is Ava okay?” Gary was wringing his hands, shuffling on the spot like he was trying to keep from running over to check for himself.

Ava looked up, a nervous lip bite breaking through her attempt at an expressionless facade. “I’m fine, Gary, thank you. Gideon healed the bite, and my...condition...doesn’t hurt.” Sara glanced back at her and she tugged at the cuffs of her shirt a little before admitting, “changing forms isn’t exactly comfortable, but Gideon says that if i’m not fighting against it it will be easier and my body will get used to it.”

Charlie nodded, hoop earrings swinging as she looked up from inspecting her crimson polished nails. “The bot’s right. Come talk to me if you want help though, yeah?”

Blinking back surprise, Ava shot her a tentative smile. “Oh. Thanks, I might take you up on that.”

Nate raised his hand like he was in school and Sara rolled her eyes as she nodded in his direction. “When you say wolf...do you mean like, an actual wolf? Like, Ava’s a werewolf? That kind of thing?”

“She’s not a werewolf.” Sara, Charlie, Zari and John spoke in almost perfect unison, and Nate’s eyes went wide.

“Long story.” Sara waved off the incoming question. “But no, she isn’t a werewolf, and yes, I do mean that last night she turned into a literal giant wolf.”

Zari bounced across the room, slapping Nates arm. “She was so big and fluffy. With cute pointy ears, and a snuffly nose, and the most ginormous blue eyes. It was amazing. I got some scans off Gideon, I’ll show you guys later.”

Sara pinched the bridge of her nose as Nate and Gary nodded excitedly, and Ava turned an interesting new shade of pink beside her.

Following Nates example, Zari put her hand up. Not waiting for Sara to answer before she blurted out, “Can we pet her?”

“What? No, Zari! Oh my god. No!” Sara narrowed her eyes, sensing the hacker scheming already. “Ava keeps her human awareness when she changes forms. Gideon says her instincts get sharper along with her senses, though, so if you try to stroke her and she bites your hand off, don’t come crying to me.”

Pout firmly in place, Zari side-eyed Ava across the room. “Fine.” She fixed an innocent smile on her face when nobody looked convinced.

Deciding that this was probably a good place to leave things for now, before her team's questions got more and more absurd, Sara herded the lot of them back out of her office with a firm warning to stay out of trouble and not bother either of them unless Gideon agreed that it was necessary.

 

*

 

Finally, after a long day of entirely fruitless research, and with the rest of the Legend’s out of their immediate way for the night, Ava had easily been talked into a night of movies and relaxation on board the Waverider rather than in her apartment. After a brief disagreement on what to watch, she had finally given in to Sara’s insistence that Disney movies were an essential part of life and agreed to sit through several of them with the promise of popcorn. Popcorn which Sara had immediately dumped an entire bag of M&Ms into, much to Ava’s disgust, though she would never admit (even under torture) that the resulting sweet and salty mess was actually delicious.

They had finished the Lion King, and most of a bottle of wine, and were sprawled out on the couch under a fluffy blanket halfway through The Little Mermaid when Ava began to fidget noticeably. Sara’s offer to change the movie was met with confusion, and a quiet decline. A few minutes later Ava sat up with a jolt and excused herself, citing a need to use the bathroom only to be intercepted by a worried Sara halfway across the library, who had seen right through her calm facade and set off after her.

“Ava? What’s wrong?”

Ava forced her face back into what she fervently hoped was a calm, or at least neutral, expression. “Nothing.” Clenching her suddenly aching jaw until she tasted copper. “I’m fine.”

“Sweetheart you’re shaking.” Sara pressed forward swiftly, the back of her hand resting on Ava’s forehead as she peered worriedly past her attempts at avoiding her eyes. “You look like you’re about to be sick. Gideon!”

“No, I’m-” Ava closed her eyes, groaning internally when the familiar British lilt echoed back with a helpful response instantly.

“She is not unwell. Director Sharpe is actively resisting her body’s urge to change forms. I did warn her against this.”

Before encountering Gideon, Ava would not have believed it possible for an AI to sound chastising. For a brief moment she found herself struck with the urge to poke her tongue out before another wave of cramps had her locking her wobbly knees, determined to stay upright and on two legs.

“Aves….”

“No!” Ava knew she was overreacting, knew her argument was pointless as her stupid body seemed determined to betray her no matter how hard she tried to fight it. “You don’t understand.” Looking up she met patient sky blue eyes, Sara holding her steady by her shoulders and waiting for the next round of icy-hot shudders to pass through her body before indicating for her to continue. “I just...I just want to be here! With you. I just want to be able to sit and hold you and watch movies – and I can’t do that because apparently I’m just not allowed to ever be even the slightest bit normal and that SUCKS, Sara!”

Understanding bloomed in Sara’s eyes and she swept her now violently shaking girlfriend into her arms, weaving her fingers into silky blonde waves when she felt hot tears drip against her neck. They didn’t talk a lot about the clone thing, mostly because every time they did it inevitably hurt Ava, and Sara couldn’t bear to see the hurt and confusion and shame that would swirl in her eyes every time it was brought up. Hated with every fibre of her being how it made Ava doubt herself and her humanity. Doubt her  _ worth _ . As though her DNA and relatively short actual life experience somehow meant she wasn’t the best and most precious thing in Sara’s life. Lately it had seemed like Ava was getting better, slowly going back to the confident, strong willed woman Sara had first started falling in love with while not compromising the softer, goofy side that had sealed the deal.

Standing here now, though, stroking through Ava’s hair as she tried in vain to muffle her sobs against her shoulder, Sara felt her heart splinter in her chest, shards lodging in her ribs. She forced herself to breathe through them for a moment, to consider her next words carefully before she spoke them out loud, because while this was a conversation that clearly needed to happen she couldn’t afford to screw this up. Couldn’t risk coming across as insincere, or putting her foot in her mouth.”There is nothing wrong with you, Ava, nothing. I need you to listen to me, okay?” Sara waited until there was a pause in Ava’s watery gasps, until she gave a tiny nod against her neck. “Hey, it’s okay. You are still Ava, no matter what form you are in, and I am still going to enjoy spending time with you. You can change if you need to. Hell, you can change if you WANT to. I admit your conversational skills might be a bit lacking without the proper vocal cords, but you’re still cuddly and I would still much rather be with you than anywhere else.” She ran her hand up and down the length of Ava’s back as she felt her sway unsteadily, trying to soothe her. “Besides, neither of us are normal, babe. And that’s fine, that’s great, even. Sometimes we can do normal stuff, but a lot of the time it’s basically chaos around here, and you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way. And neither would you, or the rest of the crazy, awesome mess that is my team. So stop trying to make yourself into what you think I want, because I love you. So much. And as long as I’m with you I’m  _ good _ , Aves.”

Ava swallowed thickly, peeking up from where she was hiding in Sara’s neck with an expression so vulnerable Sara’s fist tightened in her shirt, pulling her closer. “Really?”

“Really really.” Sara wiped the tears from Ava’s cheeks, tasting salt as she kissed the trails left behind. Frowned when she felt her shake again. “Baby, talk to me.”

Ava grit her teeth, panting through the itchy burning needles poking at every inch of her. “It hurts, Sara.”

“Because you are fighting it. You need to let go Ava. You’ll be fine, I’m right here with you and I’m not going anywhere.” With a final caress along Ava’s spine Sara stepped back, giving her space.

Just in time, as her words, and the acceptance she had been showering Ava with had chipped away at her walls so much that when the next wave of cramping hit they came crashing down.

It all happened quicker than Sara had expected. Years of B-grade horror flicks had left her picturing long minutes of agonized writhing and screaming - when in reality it was only a few seconds of sharp cracks and twisting limbs, and all at once where Ava had stood just moments earlier there was now a ruffled looking wolf surrounded by scraps of her clothing. “Hi there.”

Ava huffed, refusing to make eye contact as she shook a paw free of what was left of her pants, almost falling over in the process. Strong arms shot out to quickly steady her, Sara biting her lip to suppress a smile as Ava shifted her weight from side to side, lifting long legs clumsily, and turning in a circle as she tried to get used to her new form. Once she had adjusted to her new center of gravity, she glanced back up at Sara with an expression that clearly read, ‘well now what?’

Sara drummed her fingers against her thigh, considering. “You want to walk around the ship a bit? Get more used to things?” Ava tensed, ears pressing back. “Okay, that’s okay. We can stay here. C’mon.” She tugged gently at a tuft of long fur along the wolfs spine, encouraging her to follow as she headed back to the couch and flopped back down into the cushions.

Ava trailed along after her, hesitating when Sara patted the spot next to her on the couch. “What, you didn’t seriously think I was going to let you sit on the floor, did you? Get your fuzzy butt up here so we can finish this, I want to get to Aladdin.”

Letting out a sound that could have been relief, perhaps even a laugh, Ava gave an awkward little hop and easily made it up onto the sofa. Sara snorted when sharp claws instantly punched little holes in the thick fabric, mostly because of the wide-eyed look of shock and looming horror on Ava’s face as she turned to look at her back paws - succeeding only in tearing the cushion behind her nearly clean in half.

“Calm down, that’s an easy enough fix. Just lie down before you fall off.” Ava slumped down quickly, mostly trying to avoid causing any more damage, and managed to squirm closer to Sara without any more embarrassing accidents. Sara pressed play and the upbeat orchestral music of the film filled the library once more. Eventually, as she had hoped, her own ease with the situation started to rub off on Ava. A furry chin bumped against her thigh, and when Sara simply lay her hand between Ava’s ears without comment and began to stroke absently as they both continued to watch the screen, a heavy head finally came to rest in her lap. The familiarity (though with a bit of a new twist) wasn't lost on Sara. This was how most of their quiet nights together ended up, with one of them cuddled into the others lap or shoulder. Ava seemed to be about to keep the tradition alive by dozing off to Sara caressing her back, when the door banged open and the bubble burst.

“Hey, boss. You decent in there?”

Mick’s rough voice seemed booming in the peaceful space and Sara’s own fond exasperation was cut off before it could properly form when Ava jerked in her lap, ears flattening as she pulled away. Sara didn’t have time to do more than shoot her a worried glance as the fire starter wandered into the library.

“Oh. Pantsuit. Back to shedding on the furniture again, I see.”

“Mick, be nice.”

“What? I didn’t say anything.”

Giving up, Sara simply shook her head. “Never mind.” The words tasted bitter on her tongue, but she could hardly bring herself to care as she watched Ava close back off in front of her, the tranquility of the last few hours slipping through Sara’s fingers like water. “Did you need something, Mick?”

“Just looking for a book.” He began pulling tomes from the shelves, flicking through them.

Biting back her irritation - this was, after all, one of the ships shared spaces - Sara turned her attention back to Ava and the unease she could feel coming from her. “Do you want to head back to your apartment?”

Ava gave a short shake of her head, still not looking at Sara as she clambered off the couch, tail pressed firmly between her legs.

Apparently Mick was paying closer attention than it seemed as at Sara’s question he turned his head, frowning somewhat more than usual as he took in his captains slumped shoulders and dejected expression. “I can come back later.”

“No, it’s fine.” Sara knew Ava well enough to know that even if Mick left now, she wouldn’t be able to recapture the peace that had been disturbed by his arrival. Neither of them had really expected one of the Legends to interrupt one of Ava’s first shifts, and it was clear that she needed time to come to terms with everything before she could relax again when there was a possibility of having to interact with someone other than Sara. With this in mind Sara turned off the screen, tossed the blanket she had been using over her shoulder while resting a grounding hand on one of Ava’s. “We’re going back to my room. It’s been a long day.

Mick searched her face briefly before shrugging and turning back to the bookshelf. “Sure, boss. You know where to find me if we get a mission.”

Already on the way to the door, Ava having slipped through it in front of her, Sara tossed him a grateful nod. “Let’s hope not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up - chapter 4 is where this story earns it's rating. Don't say I didn't warn you! Please drop me a quick comment to let me know if you liked it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has left a comment, it means a lot to me and always makes me want to write more! Also, as promised, this chapter is roughly 90% pure smut. Whoops?

 

Back in the safety of Sara’s quarters, the captain was quick to check on Ava, relieved when she visibly relaxed as the door slid closed behind them.

She was just debating how to continue the evening when a gurgle from the wolf’s stomach echoed through the room. A laugh burst from her chest as Ava groaned, ducking her head and pressing a paw over her eyes. “Woah, you feeling a bit hungry there, Aves?”

The wolf grumbled, tilting her head up to look at her before wincing suddenly, gaze dropping to the floor.

Sara’s brow furrowed, quickly stepping closer, until a high pitched yip had her freezing in place as Ava began to twitch and spasm. Just as before, the transformation was quick and seemingly less painful than those previous. Within a few moments the fur was gone, smooth skin taking its place to reveal a very human Ava crouched naked on her floor, hair a little disheveled but otherwise unchanged.

“That seems to be getting easier on you.” Sara grasped Ava’s elbow gently, helping her up onto her feet.

Flushing a little at her nudity, Ava quickly pulled on some underwear and a bra from her set of drawers. “It is.” She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. On one hand, the lack of nausea and blinding agony was an obvious improvement, but on the other...well, Ava still wasn’t sure she was comfortable getting used to this. Getting used to it meant it was permanent, and she hadn’t quite accepted that yet.

Scooping a pair of her jeans up off the floor from where Sara had tossed them the day before, she tugged them up her legs, jumping a little when warm hands settled on her bare waist as she was fastening her belt.

Smoothing blonde locks over Ava’s shoulder, Sara pressed a lingering kiss to the revealed line of her neck. “I know this is hard for you.” Her arms wound around Ava’s waist, pulling her closer. “But I’m glad it at least isn’t hurting you as much. I hate watching you hurt.”

Ava opened her mouth to reply, groaning instead when her stomach rumbled again, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten anything but popcorn since breakfast.

“Come on.” Sara laughed, pressing a quick kiss to her shoulder before pulling away. “Lets go feed you.”

Ava quickly finished dressing, following her girlfriend back out into the corridor and towards the kitchen.

“How about a nice steak?” Sara’s tone was airy, innocent, but Ava knew her well enough that her eyes narrowed at the back of Sara’s head as she opened the fridge and poured juice into two glasses. Her suspicion was confirmed when she turned back to pass her one, shit-eating grin firmly in place. “Venison?”

Ava sighed, refusing to crack a smile. “You’re not funny, you know.”

Feigning confusion, Sara gave her a wide-eyed look before turning to the fabricator. “Not in the mood for either of those? What about...rabbit?”

One of the oranges sitting in the fruit basket next to Ava’s elbow went flying towards Sara’s shoulder, the former assassin spinning to catch it easily in midair. “Oh come on.” She grinned, no longer bothering to hide her amusement. “I’m hilarious and you know it.”

Ava shook her head, wagging a finger at her when she opened her mouth to make another quip. “I’ll bite you.”   
  
Hips swaying, Sara stalked her way back across to Ava, raking her eyes hungrily over her body. “Mm, is that a promise?”

Thrown off balance, Ava felt a flush crawl up her neck and paint her cheeks. She fumbled for a moment, trying to regain her footing in the conversation. “You just might be the most annoying human being I’ve ever met.”

Sara’s eyes twinkled, seeing right through her. She bent closer, full lips pressing a kiss to Ava’s jaw, feeling her breath hitch as she purred in her ear. “That’s not what you were saying the other night when I was-”

Ava slapped a hand over Sara’s mouth, rolling her eyes when a nimble tongue immediately teased at her fingers. “Stop that.” She wanted to give in, god did she want to give in, but she also knew that if she did she wouldn’t be leaving Sara’s room until morning and before that happened they really both needed to have some actual dinner. “I’m hungry.”

“So am I.” Sara’s eyes were dark, flicking between Ava and the counter before she relented and took a step back. “Fine. I’ll feed you before I have you for dessert.”

Sara fabricated them both a simple pasta dish, foot rubbing against Ava’s leg as they both ate quickly. Once they were done she snatched the bowl away from Ava before she could start cleaning it, dropping them both in the sink to be dealt with later. Entwining their fingers, Sara all but dragged Ava away, back towards their room. As the door slid shut, Sara tangled her fingers in Ava’s hair, dragging her down and kissing her hard, nipping at her lower lip until they parted and she could slip her tongue inside.

Ava smiled into the kiss, returning it with fervor. Her hands dropped from Sara’s waist to her ass, squeezing and tugging her back closer when she broke the kiss to drag full lips down the column of Ava’s sensitive neck. Gentle presses quickly turned hungry, Sara nipping and sucking down to leave possessive little lilacs on her skin, and Ava groaned her approval before pulling her back up to her lips. Sara all but melted into her, stretching up to deepen the contact and Ava giggled a little until sharp teeth closed on her lip again, cutting her off with a moan as she tried to pull Sara closer. “Sara.”

“Oh? You want something?” Sara’s hands were already wandering, Ava’s belt hitting the ground before she had even noticed her unbuckling it. Ava giggled again in response, trying for coy and coming off adorable. She was still far too put together for Sara’s liking though, even as Sara slid the blouse off her shoulders, and pushed her unbuttoned slacks from her hips until they pooled at her feet.

She wanted to ruin her. Wipe away the calm and focus and make her  _ Sara’s _ , all for her and just for her, and remind Ava that she is hers in return.

Ava’s plain white bra, practical as always, was doing little to hide the points of her nipples as Sara kissed a path along the skin spilling from the cups. It’s still in the way though, and it didn’t take long for her to be more frustrated than entertained with the barrier - expertly unhooking it and sending it somewhere in a far of corner of the room. Better. Much better.

Sara grasped Ava’s shoulders, pushed her backwards and down until she was sprawled across the bed. Breasts bouncing at the impact, all long legs and wide, hungry eyes. Biting her lip as she gazed up at her with such an open expression of love and want, and  _ fuck  _ Sara will never get tired of this view. She didn’t get to enjoy it for too long however, Ava soon reaching up for her, pulling Sara down on top of her, and it’s not like she can protest when there is literally nowhere else she would rather be. Ever.

“Such perfect breasts, baby. And so sensitive.” Locking eyes with Ava, Sara ducked her head and pulled a coral nipple between her lips, flicking with her tongue before sucking down. Smiling into her soft flesh as she felt it harden further in her mouth, she watched Ava’s eyes darken and flicker. A sharp nip earned her a moan, then a breathy sigh when she soothed it with a broad swirl before switching to Ava’s other breast. She could, she mused, stay here for hours. Suckling and massaging until Ava was too sensitive to touch. Tempting, but the slight tugs Ava was giving to her hair, the subtle roll of her hips that she probably wasn’t even conscious of yet reminded Sara that there were other, far more tempting things waiting for her. The bolt of hunger, of  _ need  _ that shot through her at the thought was white hot and went straight between her own legs with a force that had her growling into the warm valley between Ava’s breasts, sucking a possessive mark above the thrum of her heart and kissing her way down along her strong stomach to where Ava needed her most.

“You smell so good.” Sara nuzzled against Ava’s plain navy boyshorts, tongue flicking out to press against the damp patch already darkening the thin fabric. “Nice and wet for me. Good girl. I haven’t tasted you in so long.”

Ava groaned, Sara’s husky words brightening the flush on her cheeks and tightening the warm coil in her belly. “Yesterday morning, Sara, you –  _ oh god _ – it was only yesterday morning.”

Sara’s answering growl rumbled against Ava’s clit, a tiny barely there vibration that shouldn’t have felt so fucking good so soon when Sara hadn’t even truly touched her yet, but still had her raising her hips in a silent plea that Sara was quick to indulge, nimble fingers slipping her underwear off her hips and down the expanse of her legs. Once they were gone Sara traced the path they had taken back up leisurely. Open-mouthed kisses and long pattern-less licks crawled up Ava’s ankles, her calves, marking up her thighs. Strong hands massaging in tandem as she alternated between legs. After what felt like hours, including a lengthy detour to tease the sensitive sweet spots behind Ava’s knees, Sara finally came back up to her original destination. Coaxing Ava’s thighs further apart and recommitting the image of her swollen, drenched sex to memory before the temptation became just too much to do anything other than guide them up over her shoulders and duck her head.

The first touch, just with her parted lips, had Sara’s senses exploding. Ava smelt so sweet and musky, heat radiating against her face as she let her mouth fall open, tongue darting out to chase the exquisite taste of her, stroking her open. Ava gasped, pelvis rolling up again as she sought out  _ more, more, more,  _ and Sara wrapped her arms tighter around her hips. Holding her steady. Anchoring her. Licking up and down swollen folds, tugging them gently into her mouth. Lapping at Ava’s entrance until her hands found the back of Sara’s head, tangling in her hair and pulling deliciously when she switched to circling. Basking in the pleased, needy little sounds that made their way down to her ears when she stiffened her tongue and pressed inside, and the sharp scratch to her scalp when deep swirls and thrusts had her nose brushing against Ava’s swelling clit.

“ _ Shit _ .” Long fingers tugged at the roots of Sara’s hair as her dexterous tongue finally paid some attention to Ava’s most sensitive bundle of nerves, coaxing it gently out from it’s hood and tracing tight little circles around it. “Mm, yes.”

Sara smiled against her soaked folds, strong hands tightening their grip on Ava’s thighs as her hips began to rock up more insistently, growing frustrated with the slow build Sara was setting as she danced away from her clit for long periods of time to work her tongue back into her, lapping up more of the delicious slick flowing from Ava’s core before returning to draw patterns over and around the reddening bump. Sara built her up slowly. Being with Ava was always magical, always perfection, but something about having her like this was so deeply satisfying that Sara never wanted it to end.

Ava, of course, soon had a different opinion. Her moans and sighs of pleasure turned into whines of frustration, hands tugging insistently at the flaxen locks in her grip and hips straining up against Sara’s hold to try and press herself closer to that incredible tongue, until Sara finally relented. Full lips sealed tightly around Ava’s clit, suckling in deep pulses until Ava’s voice broke out in scream as the pressure inside her burst and waves of heat and pleasure swept her away.

Sara gazed up along the length of Ava’s body, watching her breasts heave and muscles flex as she arched her back into a perfect curve. Her lips remained latched to Ava’s center, sucking with less pressure but just as determined a rhythm. Ava’s orgasm ebbed to a conclusion slowly as she tried and failed to shuffle her pelvis away from Sara’s mouth, eventually giving in as Sara took full advantage of her sensitivity to push her back up towards another one. One of the hands holding Ava’s hips still released her, trailing down and along her thigh before bringing two fingers up to rest in the wet pool at her entrance, waiting for Ava to shiver and moan out a mostly coherent plea before Sara pressed them inside. It didn’t take long, only a few more thrusts, a slightly harder pull on her clit and Ava’s toes curled and her hands left Saras head to clutch desperately at the sheets as the force of her second orgasm took away her breath and left her unable to make a sound. Whole body shaking as she came back down to earth, Ava wriggled away, sleek thighs angling closed when she finally managed to detach a pouting Sara from where she was lapping up every drop of wetness she could find with single minded determination.

“Hey, I wasn’t done licking you.” Despite her protests Sara cooperated, kissing a winding path back up her girlfriends twitching body.

“Ugh, hmm.” Ava’s outstretched arms twitched, whole body squirming a little as that wicked tongue moved on from tracing lines between her abs to long strokes along the underside of her breasts. “Nonono. Done. So done. Time out, Sara.”

Sara’s laugh tickled Ava’s throat as she crawled back on top of her, bending down to brush their lips together briefly, checking Ava’s response. As expected her her cheeks pinked, but it didn’t stop her from kissing Sara back fully, licking the remaining traces of her own arousal from the former assassins lips. Sara growled a little, the space between her thighs clenching and throbbing as Ava sucked her tongue into her mouth, chasing the taste of herself. Fuck. She wanted to be inside her again. Possibly even more than she needed to feel that wicked mouth buried between her legs. She captured a swollen lip between her teeth and bit down, marking Ava one last time - for now - before pulling back.

A pale eyebrow drifted up when she suddenly realized Ava’s arms were still outstretched, tense against the sheets and it took more self restraint than Sara had thought she currently possessed not to laugh out loud as she took in what she was seeing. “Did you just claw through my bed? Like, literally? That’s going to be fun to explain to Gideon.”

Ava turned her head, the rosy flush on her cheeks deepening. Sara chuckled, low and fond as she sprinkled kisses along Ava’s neck, gently encircling her wrists and stroking until she relaxed and her claws retracted from the death grip she had on the mattress, fingers returning to their human nails. “Remind me not to cuff you again until I’ve had a chance to reinforce the headboard.”

Ava hummed, eyes crinkling as she fixed her with an amused smile. “I would say that puts us on an even playing field, no?”

“Oh, come on!” Sara pounced, tickling Ava’s sides until she squirmed away, the melody of her laugh filling the room. “That was one time, let it go!”

It took a lot for Sara to trust a partner enough to allow them to restrain her, but Ava she trusted with her whole heart and soul and had been more than enthusiastic to let her cuff her hands and fuck her with Sara’s favorite strap on. Except Ava had been sooooo teasing, and while it would be hypocritical of Sara to expect mercy from her when she knew damn well that she wouldn’t (and usually didn’t) spare Ava any if the situation was reversed, eventually her - admittedly terrible - patience had run out. And so she had broken out of the restraints, flipped and pinned a surprised Ava and ridden her until they both broke. One hell of a night indeed, though Ava had ribbed her about it ever since.

The brief but pleasant trip down memory lane was interrupted when Ava took full advantage of Sara’s distraction to roll on top of her, knee slotting between pale thighs to brace herself as she ducked her head. Freshly tangled golden strands trailed against Sara’s skin as Ava kissed a path along her freckles, eliciting a shiver that only intensified when she found the nipple she had been seeking out and pulled it into the warm cavern of her mouth.

Sara groaned, swearing and clutching at the back of Ava’s long neck when she worked the sensitive tip until it was aching before switching to the other side to repeat the attention on it’s lonely twin. Eventually she broke away, lifting her head like she was going for the deep hungry kiss Sara was desperate for only to detour at the last second and press it to Sara’s shoulder where a thick ridge of muscle connected her arm to her neck. She was about to protest when Ava bit down and everything south of Sara’s waist clenched and shivered as she suddenly realized just how slick and empty she was inside. Her leg bent, foot trailing up Ava’s calf before she hooked around her, pulling her thigh up and closer and,  _ ugh yes,  _ that angle was so much better.

Not content to hand back control, Ava took over the new rhythm, pressing against Sara’s cunt perfectly in time with the harsh sucks to where her teeth were still firmly clamped against her shoulder – and oh god Sara could feel just how much of a mark that was going to leave behind and her abs flexed and burned as she strained to rub her clit against rigid muscle.

“Ugh,  _ shit _ , Aves.”

“What’s wrong? You want more?” Ava’s mouth pulled wetly away from where it had left a perfect imprint on her skin, a searing brand that Sara wanted to feel all over. “Or maybe I should stop?” Long fingers slotted between her thighs, playing in the slick Sara can feel seeping out of her. “You don’t feel like you want me to stop, baby.”

“Don’t you fucking dare.” Sara ran the pad of her thumb across kiss-bitten lips, pressing inside when they parted. White teeth gripped it tightly, a hot tongue flicking across the tip before ocean blue eyes made deliberate contact with hers and Ava  _ sucked _ .

“Fuck.” Sara let her thumb rest in the hollow of Ava’s tongue as it curved and fluttered around it. “Such a perfect mouth.” Oh, the things she wanted to do to that mouth.

The wet pop as Ava pulled back echoed lewdly between them like a promise. “Yeah?” She licked the pad of Sara’s thumb again, in sync with her other hand pressing teasing circles around her entrance. “You want it on you?”

That wasn’t even a question, not really, because Sara knew with absolute certainty that if she were ever faced with the choice between Ava’s mouth and oxygen then at least this time around her last few moments of this particular lifespan would be fucking worth it. The impish glint in Ava’s eyes betrayed the fact that she was far from oblivious to this.

“What I want is for you to stop being a brat and just-  _ FUUCK _ !”

All of a sudden she was full, three fingers buried inside to the aching stretch of Ava’s knuckles and it’s  _ almost _ too much,  _ almost _ too fast,  _ almost _ painful – but only  _ almost _ and only in the way the Ava knows Sara loves. Knows Sara craves. Knows also to wait a moment, to let Sara enjoy the slight burn and the deeper pleasure before she adjusted around her and started to wriggle impatiently.

It didn’t take long for Sara’s hips to start rocking, silently demanding more. The groan that slipped past her lips when Ava gave a first shallow thrust only encouraged her, and Ava’s free hand dropped to her hip. Squeezed down and then lifted, shifting Sara’s weight against the mattress to get the best possible angle before searching Sara’s beautiful face. Waiting for Sara to meet her eyes, give a slight nod, before she drew her fingers out to the tips and then all but slammed them back in.

“Fuck.  _ Yes _ . Just like that.” Sara’s voice broke, bliss crossing her features.

Ava cut her off with a kiss, swallowing the cry that escaped when she thrust again, and again, finally picking up a rhythm. It was hard and sweet and so good that Sara was climbing up towards her peak before she could even think of how much she needed it, unable to focus on anything other than the delicious fullness inside and how well Ava was playing her body. On how amazing she was making her feel.

Ava’s speed picked up at the same moment her teeth found Sara’s shoulder again. The opposite side and slightly lower that the bruise that was already blooming across honeyed skin from just before, and Sara gasped, tangling her fingers in Ava’s hair and pulling her even closer in encouragement. Ava began curling her fingers every time she drew them out and Sara shouted, nails scratching at her scalp when she bit down again, teeth just barely breaking skin, not quite hard enough to truly draw blood. It was  _ perfect _ , and Sara’s toes curled tightly in the sheets, hips lifting up to try and press herself impossibly closer to Ava as her orgasm broke over her faster and harder than she was ready for it, ripping a desperate cry from her throat.

Ava didn’t give Sara a chance to come down, pulling away and slipping down between her tensing thighs to bury her mouth between Sara’s legs. Latching onto her throbbing clit, careful not to disturb the fingers still thrusting deep inside her clenching walls as she swirled her tongue around the sensitive tip. Stretching up, her free hand closed around a supple breast, pinching the nipple, and tears pricked at the corners of Sara’s eyes as her vision went white before exploding into a symphony of colours.

Maybe it was the garbled moans, or the way her legs were shaking, but thankfully Ava took pity against her after her second orgasm. Her fingers slipped free when she felt Sara beginning to pull away, kissing back up her body until she could lap softly over the stinging mark left by her teeth.

Sara tilted her head on the pillow, offering more of her neck to Ava as she floated in her afterglow and hummed in contentment when she she sucked down and left another smaller, softer bruise. She tangled her fingers in her hair when she went to pull away, dragging her back up to her lips for a scorching kiss. Ava was panting by the time she released her, and while Sara had originally had the much purer intention of letting her go, all thoughts of lazy kisses and snuggling went flying out the window.

There was just something about the way Ava was smiling at her, languid and self-satisfied and a touch smug that sparked Sara’s competitive streak, love for Ava and her lingering arousal all at once and suddenly she needed her again. Needed her scratching at Sara’s back and screaming.

Her hand shot down between Ava’s legs, cupping and squeezing her where she was still wet and swollen from her own previous orgasms and from being a part of Sara’s, and drank in her gasp. “Aww, I know. You’re so sensitive, aren’t you baby?”

Ava blinked up at her, kiss-bruised lips parting as she panted. Sara played her fingertips around her slick entrance, avoiding any contact with her still over stimulated clit. She pulled away when Ava began to rock, not exactly into the touch but not quite away from it either, seemingly unable to decide if she could handle her body’s sudden hunger for more.

Sara made the decision for her, carefully slipping inside and wriggling her fingers as she felt Ava squeeze around them, drinking in her cries as she built her up towards another peak. Built her up, and then then stopped and watched her fall away when she pulled out again, gripping her hips tight to stop her from chasing relief against her thigh. Waited until Ava had sagged back against the sheets before flicking playfully at the tip of her clit.

Ava yelped, abs flexing as she jerked back. “Too much. Too much, Sara!”

Sara grinned, scratching another pink trail down the inside of Ava’s thighs and watching her squirm. She knew it was cruel, but she couldn’t help it. She loved when Ava got like this. Knowing that she was so desperate for it, wanting so badly for Sara to just make her come and ease the ache in her clit and the pressure in her core, but painfully aware that she was nearly too over-sensitized to tolerate Sara’s touch. And yet all the while trusting Sara. Trusting her to make her feel good. To love her. With that in mind Sara relented in her teasing, just a little, pressing two fingers already soaked with Ava’s desire back to her entrance. Waited for the sweet, needy little whimper. For Ava to push her hips down, taking the tips of them inside as much as Sara would allow. Waited...and then watched Ava’s face as she slid them home.

“ _ Ohh _ .” Ava’s head arched back against the pillow, her arms winding around Sara to grasp at her back as she pressed all the way inside her. She gasped when Sara’s free arm went around her waist, sitting up and pulling her up off the mattress and into Sara’s lap. The change in angle was perfect, the weight of her body settling her down just a little bit further into Sara’s hand and she dropped her forehead to rest on a strong shoulder when Sara began to fuck her, slowly and sweetly at first before picking up the pace to match the dance of Ava’s hips.

“That feel good baby?”

Ava squirmed in her lap, wetness trickling down Sara’s wrist as she clenched around her fingers. “Fuck, Sara, please!”

Along with her plea, Sara’s new rhythm had Ava’s nails digging deeper into the muscles flexing along her back with every thrust. A brief teasing tap at her clit had them raking a trail of delicious fire down the length of her spine and Sara echoed Ava’s moan. “Oh, you wanna come again now, huh?”

“Yeeesss.”

Sara grinned, lifting her lips to Ava’s ear. “You need it?” She pinched the lobe between her teeth, soothing the sting with a flick of her tongue.

“Ungh, yes. I’ll do anything, Sara,  _ please _ .”

Well now  _ that _ was tempting. A half dozen ideas flashed through Sara’s mind but she filed them away for later. She would never push Ava when she was like this, so vulnerable and pliable to her. Another time, absolutely, neither of them have ever been particularly hesitant in that department. But not like this, never like this. Not without being a hundred percent sure beforehand that she wouldn’t cross an unknown line. “Shhh, Aves, I know. I’ll get you there.”

“Now? Sara, I need... _ uhhh _ .”

“Almost. I’m gonna make you howl for me, baby girl. Promise.”

Ava gave little more than a whimper in response. Her face dropped down into the crook of Sara’s neck as her hips moved faster, trying to find proper friction for her clit against Sara’s teasing palm, desperately chasing the peak that just kept building impossibly higher. “ _ Ohmygod _ . Oh god, fuck!”

Sara thrust fast, curling her fingers with every deep press inside Ava’s sex to brush along the hypersensitive rougher patch of flesh hidden along her front wall that Sara had ruthlessly sought out their first night together and delighted in thoroughly exploiting ever since. As expected, Ava immediately jerked against her, muscular thighs squeezing tightly against Sara’s sides as she instinctively tried to close her legs against the intense stimulation.

Sara tightened her grip, holding Ava closer in her lap as her whole body arched into her.“Come on baby. I know you’re close.” She traced a drop of salty sweet sweat along the strong line of Ava’s jaw, down the long straining tendons of her neck and biting down hard where her pulse throbbed, soothing the resulting bruise with a gentle tongue. “That’s it, Aves. Good girl. Let go for me, come on.”

Sara curled her fingers forward, zeroing in on the swollen patch she had been teasing and rubbing into it as her thumb trapped Ava’s plump clit hard against her pubic bone and twirled. For a heartbeat Ava froze, her whole body locking tight before with an almost agonized scream she finally fell, shattering against Sara. A gush of silky fluid coated Sara’s wrist, velvet heat contracting tightly around her fingers for what felt like an eternity. With her hand trapped Sara could no longer thrust, but she continued to flex her fingers, to circle her thumb. Whispering a mix of sweet and filthy nothings, knowing that Ava wouldn’t understand any of it but also knowing that it would register in other ways. That she would feel her lips pressed to the sensitive skin just beneath her ear, hear her voice and drink in her tone. All of this working in perfect harmony, drawing Ava through wave after wave until she had nothing left to give and with a final sob collapsed boneless into Sara’s arms.

“That’s my girl.” Sara relaxed her grip as Ava went completely limp, free hand stroking the length of her back while she reveled in the tiny twitches she could still feel around her fingers of the one still trapped in warm silk. Unwilling to pull out and risk hurting or further over-stimulating Ava, Sara slid her hand up to cradle her girlfriend’s head where it rested heavily on her shoulder, using that arm to support her sweat-slicked body against her own as she carefully turned and deposited Ava against rumpled sheets.

Ava’s eyelids remained closed, breathing heavy but evening out into a steady rhythm as Sara settled down alongside her. Still being careful not to jostle her fingers while she waited for Ava to come to, even as she began to relax around them.

“Oh, my love.” Sara pressed closer into Ava’s side, intertwining their legs as she murmured against her shoulder, starting a trail of soft kisses that scattered across her chest and collarbone. Ava mumbled, soft and incoherent, turning slightly into the touch. Sara ghosted her lips leisurely up the cords of her neck, over her cheek, brushing feather-light against her temple. She smiled into damp golden curls when she felt a flicker of movement, turning to find hazy sapphire eyes peering back into her soul. “Hey there. You back with me?”

A content hum echoed in Ava’s chest as she blinked slowly and heavily and let her head fall to the side, cheek resting against Sara’s hair. Eventually her legs shifted a little, thighs falling open, and Sara kissed her shoulder again. “You want me to pull out, baby?”

Ava scrunched up her face even as her eyelids began dragging closed once more. Not wanting that at all, not wanting that ever, but also knowing that she couldn’t keep Sara inside her forever and that far too soon it would start to get uncomfortable. So she nodded, flinching and whining a little at the last slick pull at her sensitive flesh and the sense of emptiness that followed until Sara kissed her pout away.

Sara stroked Ava’s stomach as she sucked the nectar off her fingers, wiping her hand on the sheets. She nudged a still very blissed-out Ava gently but firmly over and away from the wet patch on her side of the bed, pulling the sheets and comforter up around them both in a tangled heap and snorting when Ava made no motion to move them off her face when they settled over her. “Babe.” She poked the area she was pretty sure was Ava’s cheek, chuckling fondly when she didn’t even move. A quick tug freed Ava’s face and neck from the possibility of suffocating in her sleep, and while her eyes remained closed she let out a pleased little murmur when Sara wriggled in against her side and slung an arm over her waist.

“I love you.” In the gentle darkness the words seemed somehow both lighter and more weighted than usual. Here and now though, with Ava soft and warm against her side, afterglow still wrapped around them both, Sara tasted the truth of them so strongly they had to be spoken.

She didn’t expect Ava to respond, thinking she had already drifted off into sleep. She must have heard her however, or maybe just felt it, as her hand squeezed lightly around Sara’s. “Mhm. Love, S’ra.”

Sara could barely understand Ava, her words only partially coherent and slurred with sleep, but she felt them right down to the bottom of her soul. And as her body’s weariness caught up to her, and she faded away into dreams, a smile remained etched on her face.

 


End file.
